{"id":350379,"date":"2025-08-17T00:23:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T00:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350379\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T00:23:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T00:23:14","slug":"boarded-up-homes-are-sign-of-a-bigger-problem-in-anfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350379\/","title":{"rendered":"Boarded up homes are sign of a bigger problem in Anfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

People have called for more to be done in the area where they’ve lived all their livesDan Haygarth<\/strong><\/a> Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter<\/p>\n

00:01, 17 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"A house declared to be unfit to live in on Walton Breck Road, Anfield(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

The condition of an unsafe house in Anfield that was evacuated this month is emblematic of why the area requires investment and development, according to a neighbour. A house on Walton Breck Road was evacuated on August 4 after it was found to be unsafe.<\/p>\n

A large emergency service presence attended the road, near to Anfield<\/a> Stadium as the property was cordoned off with two people inside. The terraced house was found to be structurally unsound<\/a> with a crack measuring approximately five metres, and the windows and bay sagging as a result.<\/p>\n

The fire service said two occupants were inside the house when it was cordoned off<\/a> and were unable to leave without assistance. Properties adjacent to the affected premises were evacuated and a structural engineer was requested. The occupants were vacated that evening and one person was taken to hospital by North West Ambulance Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The house was declared to be not fit to be occupied and has since been put behind the cage, which runs off the pavement into the road, with a council document pinned to the door.<\/p>\n

In a statement on the day of the incident, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) said of the address: “It was determined that the house is unfit to be occupied<\/a>, though there isn\u2019t any significant deterioration since an inspection one month ago.”<\/p>\n

Neighbours have told the ECHO they have reported concerns about the safety of the building to the Liverpool City Council many times. Earlier this month, the city council told the ECHO its building control team was investigating the matter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ECHO understands the home is in private ownership and the council has deemed the house is not immediately dangerous and is exploring the next steps to take. However, those who live in the area want to make sure more is done to improve the conditions of buildings across Anfield.<\/p>\n

Hilary Johnston, who lives near the house on Walton Breck Road, told the ECHO she believes its condition is emblematic of a problem with some buildings in the area. As such, she believes it is proof of why it needs investment and improvement.<\/p>\n

She told the ECHO: “I’ve lived here all my life – I was born on Oakfield Road. Anfield<\/a> has changed throughout the decades but I think its decline was around the ’70s and early ’80s. Nothing much happened after that. We’ve had small little pockets of improvements.”<\/p>\n

About the house on her street, Ms Johnston said: “The council have known about it for a long time but it’s privately owned. Whilst we know that is an issue, that’s a private person and we can’t force that issue unless the council can.<\/p>\n

“But what would be symptomatic would be if that is just left now and we don’t see any progress in that. That could be left for a couple of years.<\/p>\n

“If that’s left for years boarded up, then that’s symptomatic of an issue that we’ve got. It feels like nobody really is bothered.<\/p>\n

“It’s the same with the one by Morrisons. It’s been open to the elements for a long time and nobody’s really bothered. Time ticks on. It’s the same with the row of houses by Homebaked.”<\/p>\n

\" A derelict building on Oakfield Road in Anfield, Liverpool(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

The Walton Breck Road house is one of a number in the vicinity of Liverpool FC’s Anfield Stadium which is in a poor condition. As mentioned by Ms Johnston, a row of derelict terraces are found next to bakery Homebaked on Oakfield Road and opposite it stands a derelict barber shop, which collapsed in May 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The terraced houses were the subject of a row and the council pulled out of a community project to develop them<\/a> in December. Regarding the barber shop, the authority told the ECHO last year it will not be taking any further action on the broken-down building – as the responsibility for dealing with the problem “lies solely with the owner”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms Johnston wants to see these issues tackled with a meaningful cash injection for the area and more development.<\/p>\n

She said: “There’s been a lack of investment. It’s a fight for us to put any proposal for change. It feels like we rarely get anything developed and if we do, we have to fight for it.<\/p>\n

“It’s very frustrating. There are lots of other people who voice their opinion and want something to be done in the community.”<\/p>\n

When the ECHO spoke to residents<\/a> in Anfield earlier this month after \u00a35m funding was announced for the area, many of them mentioned the number of derelict buildings and those in poor condition as something which needs to be tackled urgently.<\/p>\n

Robert Hart, 75, who has lived in Anfield<\/a> since the 1990s after moving from Everton<\/a>, said the row of houses on Oakfield is emblematic of why the area needs this funding.<\/p>\n

\"DerelictDerelict houses on Oakfield Road in Anfield(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

He told the ECHO<\/a>: “They’ve been like that for years. If they weren’t going to pull them down, they should have renovated them all.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it gives off a good impression of the area. It’s derelict. There’s a brand new housing estate here, but why haven’t they done something with those houses? They’re good houses, they’d not be bad houses if they’d been done up.”<\/p>\n

The \u00a35m funding for the area around Anfield Stadium<\/a> was announced last month. Liverpool City Council<\/a> said it wants to create a “safer, greener and more welcoming” space around the football ground.<\/p>\n

The proposed improvements are part of a wider regeneration<\/a> effort under what is known as the Anfield<\/a> Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF), which will also support matchday operations and integrate with other ongoing projects in the area.<\/p>\n

The proposals cover Walton<\/a> Breck Road, Oakfield Road, Pulford Street, Back Rockfield Road, and Gilman Street, with a view to enhancing the area\u2019s appearance, safety, and accessibility.<\/p>\n

Key features of the proposed scheme include improved public realm and pedestrian connectivity, new soft landscaping and planting, upgraded footways and high-quality paving and carriageway resurfacing and improved drainage.<\/p>\n

There will also be new modernised street lighting, a new mini-roundabout at the junction of Walton Breck Road and Oakfield Road, reconfigured on-street parking, relocated pedestrian crossings and reduced road widths and speed limits to calm traffic.<\/p>\n

Councillor Nick Small<\/a>, the city council’s cabinet member for growth and economy spoke to the ECHO this week about what he wants to achieve with this funding. He wishes to tackle the residents’ concerns through a number of ongoing property and infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

He said a key part of this would be improving the area’s housing offer, including the development at Anfield Square, land in the shadow of the stadium, bought in March, allowing the local authority to move forward with its plans to regenerate a key site.<\/p>\n

According to council documents, it agreed to buy 18 freeholds and leaseholds, which date from when there were houses on the site. The plot, comprising land north of Walton<\/a> Breck Road and east of the stadium, has been cleared and the deal brought the full site under council ownership – it now intends to market the site for development.<\/p>\n

About the council’s work to regenerate Anfield<\/a>, Cllr Small this week told the ECHO<\/a>: “We\u2019ve got to think ‘how do we bring more value from having the football club, games, concerts, tours, museum’. How do we bring more value into Anfield and make it an even better place to live in?<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re working with the club for Anfield Square. We’ve got some big announcements coming to create a destination into the area, getting more money spent in the area. So there will be a couple of announcements about investment around the area.<\/p>\n

“There are empty houses that were part of the housing market renewal that are in the city council\u2019s ownership. That will have a positive effect on the housing market more generally in the area and should drive more investment.<\/p>\n

“I get where people are coming from. Anfield is a different area, it is changing, it has changed. But that investment, we are already seeing that coming into the area, it is up and coming, people do want to live there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People have called for more to be done in the area where they’ve lived all their livesDan Haygarth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[1120,748,393,4884,179,14487,2516,12147,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-350379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-anfield","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-council","14":"tag-property","15":"tag-regeneration","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115041259045925068","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}