London house collapses during refurbishment

Image: Met Police

A large detached house in south-west London undergoing extensive refurbishment including basement renovations has collapsed overnight.

Emergency services were called and fire crews carried out an “extensive search” but nobody was in the property at the time. Witnesses said the two-storey house in Kingston Vale, Wimbledon, thought to be worth over £1m, crashed down in the early hours of Monday morning. No one was hurt but neighbours were evacuated.

Kingston council said a building application for work at the property had been submitted two days previously. An investigation into why it collapsed will now be carried out, the local authority added.

The HSE has been flagging up its concern over extensive refurbishment work being carried out unsafely. In 2015 a survey showed that almost half of domestic basement projects across three London boroughs failed unannounced safety checks during a two-day initiative.

The house before the collapse (Google)

And after (Met Police)

The inspection initiative undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 11-12 March, involved a team of inspectors visiting 127 sites across Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and parts of Westminster.

Enforcement action was taken at 62 of those sites – an overall rate of 48% – with 44 prohibition notices served requiring dangerous practices to stop with immediate effect, 12 improvement notices served requiring safety improvements to be made and 63 notifications of contravention served identifying material breaches.

A similar inspection drive the previous year showed the overall enforcement rate across 107 sites was one in three, or 36%. At two projects, conditions were so dangerous that inspectors were forced to close the sites. More than two thirds of the prohibition notices served dealt with the risk of workers falling from height, either into unguarded excavations or through unprotected floor openings, as well as unshored excavations. Inadequate welfare provision accounted for half of the improvement notices.

Councillor David Cunningham, cabinet member with responsibility for regeneration at Kingston council, was reported as saying regarding the collapsed house: “The owners of this building submitted a building regulations application just two days ago and have therefore carried out works without our guidance and approval. 

“Our primary concern is to ensure that the building is structurally safe. We are working with the contractors to carry out the work, which is due to complete by the end of the day. 

“Following this, we will be reporting this incident to the Health and Safety Executive for further investigation.” 

Mr Alajaji, a Saudi Arabian, bought the property for £1,150,000 last year.

Image: Met Police