Three homes in Stansted cul de sac evacuated as huge cracks appear in wall of unoccupied house

Residents have been evacuated from three homes in Stansted after huge cracks appeared in an unoccupied neighbouring property.

The house in Spencer Close, at the top of Chapel Hill, is cordoned off. Uttlesford District Council (UDC) has warned people other than residents to avoid the cul-de-sac and has put a partial road closure in place.

The authority is co-ordinating the emergency response along with utility companies, which are due to carry out a ground radar survey of the site on Friday (Nov 15).

Large cracks down the walls of the home that backs onto Chapel Hill were first noticed on Monday (Nov 11) and since then the property has been rapidly deteriorating. Residents living next door were told to evacuate immediately following a site visit by structural engineers.

In a letter to residents of Spencer Close, UDC chief executive Peter Holt said: “We are aware that a home in Spencer Close experienced a major structural problem.

“The cause of this has not yet been established, however a number of agencies are actively investigating the situation. The road has been partially closed and a small number of properties have been evacuated as a precaution.

“People other than residents of the road are advised to avoid using Spencer Close unless they need to access a property.

“The professional assessment is that the homes on the rest of the road and neighbouring roads do not need to be evacuated. We will provide you with an update as soon as we have more details.”

At Stansted Parish Council’s meeting on Wednesday, district and parish councillor Geoffrey Sell, who lives in the close, said there was much speculation as to the cause.

“A couple of days ago it was noticed that an empty property in Spencer Close was getting cracks on the walls and it has worsened in the last few days, with the condition deteriorating,” he told the meeting.

“A ground radar survey is scheduled for Friday afternoon, to be carried out by Affinity Water. It’s going to be a multi-agency partner meeting when a decision will then be made whether or not it’s safe to shore up the property.

“It’s a concern that the cracking is spreading and that the situation is getting worse rather than better.”

Fellow councillor Ray Gooding, who represents the Stansted division on Essex County Council, suggested a link with “constant water leaks” in that part of the village.