I bought a house on Britain’s ‘most dangerous street’ for just £5,000 and now it’s worth £1MILLION – here’s how
A MAN who bought a house on Britain’s “most dangerous street” for just £5,000 says it’s now worth £1million.
Hasan Rezvan, 75, has lived in the four-bed terraced house near Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, South London for 53 years.
He bought the house in 1970 for just £5,000 after arriving in the UK from Cyprus without any more money to spare.
The area was rocked by the 1981 Brixton riots before acquiring a reputation for violence and drug use.
Coldharbour Lane was named Britain’s most dangerous street in 2003, with over £1million of crack pushed there every month.
Hasan told MyLondon: “About 15 years ago they broke into next door twice, but the woman living there said it was her ex-boyfriend.
He added that screams could often be heard from nearby Liliford House, where there was a constant police presence.
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But Liliford House car park has now been turned into a housing block with glass balconies, pushing up house prices while driving down crime rates.
A four-bed house like Hasan’s on Coldharbour Lane recently sold for over £1million, but the pensioner has no plans to cash in.
He said: “I do not have the money in my pocket. The only way to get it is to sell it up and go home to Cyprus.
“But when I live here for 50 years, this is my home now.”
Hasan added that any money he earned on the sale would likely be swallowed up by the Cypriot healthcare system if he moved back.
The adopted South Londoner said that young people need to make sacrifices if they want to own a home.
Pointing to his tatty black shoes, he said: “Kids want their names on the trainers, but I’m happy with these.”
It comes after residents in the town where a hit Ricky Gervais show was set slammed it as the UK’s “worst place to live”.
Slough, Berkshire, was the setting for legendary sitcom The Office, but many locals are desperate to leave.
Another town which was once a thriving shopping hot spot is now full of boarded-up shops after they were forced to close.
Crompton Place in Bolton was known as the ‘Diamond of the North’ – but now it’s a ‘ghost town‘.