What Happens To The Homes Of Murder Victims

[Velvetee]

People are going to think I have a macabre nature as I’m always asking about murder.
Anyway, I’m watching a documentary on Channel 5 about the murders of two former Eastenders actresses. Both were murdered by family members in their homes. I was wondering, if someone is murdered in their home in an extremely violent way, one of the actresses was dismembered in her flat, whilst the other was buried in her garden.

In this instance, do the authorities demolish the home? If it’s owned by the victim and not local authority, what happens then? In the case that a murder happens in a flat, where the building can’t be demolished, how is this dealt with?

[ummmm]

They don't tend to demolish the homes of murder victims. The only one I know of is of Fred and Rosemary West but that was on a different scale. If it's owned by the victim I assume it will pass on to the family.

[grizzly bear]

I live a few streets away from the eastenders murder in Pembroke Road and the house is still there. I think the family sold it. One of my near neighbours hung herself in our block of maisonettes and the housing association just cleared it out as usual and relet it, although her parents were allowed a few more weeks to pack up than you usually get.

[grizzly bear]

Also a murder took place in a local block of flats and the same housing association just cleared it out and relet it, I'm assuming they were able to evict the murderers in absentia as they both had long prison sentences handed down which meant they were not occupying it anyway

[Jackdaw33]

10, Rillington Place was also demolished.

[Kromovaracun]

Both of Dennis Nilsen's addresses are still standing - they occasionally resurface on the market. The house of Brady/Hindley was also knocked down for fear it would become a twisted shrine. So they tend to be far more likely to knock down houses of killers rather than victims.

[Old_Geezer]

No one would want to waste property by destroying it for no good reason. Demolition happens rarely if the building is likely to attract the curious, or even those wanting some kind of evil shrine type thing, and who thus would cause nuisance in the future.

[DarceyK123]

There was a house in my area where the son was shot in the driveway of the family home.

It made the national papers and TV news.

The Mother didn't want to live there anymore so put the house on the market a few months later.

It attracted so many gouls who just pretended to want to buy the house but in reality just wanted to be nosy.

Some even asked her where it actually happened, which was his bedroom etc.

Eventually she sold it to a developer who also bought the house next door, he knocked them down and built flats, it's the only way she could get away from it.

[maggiebee]

Large house in Dundee that was owned by a doctor and his wife. Just before he retired they were both murdered. The house is still standing and has been put on the market many times. It's a beautiful period house, but I personally think it will be demolished in the end because of it's history.

[Velvetee]

Thank you, interesting answers. I wonder if Estate Agents, councils and housing associations are obliged to tell potential buyers/renters if a murder has occurred at a property? The council did demolish the house in Croydon where Tia Sharp lived, so guess its a case of what they feel is appropriate.

[BagPussAA]

I know that in the US they have to tell potential buyers about any murders that have occurred in the property but I don't know whether it will be the same over here. For me, it would be a selling point as I am a true crime fanatic but I am sure it would put a lot of people off!

[Hazi-Hammenuhoth]

That's v interesting- it definitely isn't law in the UK for estate agents to have to tell potential buyers about murders. My friends bought and old farm (where, unknown to them, a murder had taken place years earlier) and were disturbed to find reporters turning up on the anniversary of the murder every 5-10 years.

Thank goodness for Google- nowadays it would be difficult to buy a property without being able to find a lot about it's history online.

The boarding house in Blackpool where the famous "Brides in the Bath" murder took place is still occupied, nowadays as student accomodation.

[Kromovaracun]

As far as I'm aware there is no law requiring estate agents to disclose features like that from a property's history.

Whenever Dennis Nilsen's old address comes up on the market, the estate agent apparently just put a notice that "potential buyers are advised to look into the history of this property" or something like that.

[jackthehat]

Several years ago I was commissioned to design a conversion of an empty property into several flats. I was told that there had been a fire there, which was evident in the burn marks and scorched walls and ceilings.
By chance, I found out some while later that there had been slightly more to it than that. :o(

https://blackpoolcrimetour.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/2-sealfield-road-50-caunce-street/

[rowanwitch]

A house near where I live was the location of the murder of a small child. It was emptied and left vacant for a year before being fully refurbed and re let.