{"id":787254,"date":"2026-09-30T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787254\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T09:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:00:11","slug":"leeds-mothers-home-left-unsellable-after-neighbour-illegally-demolishes-his-half-of-semi-detached-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787254\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds mother’s home left ‘unsellable’ after neighbour illegally demolishes his half of semi-detached property"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Leeds mother says her life has been turned into a four-year “nightmare” after her neighbour unlawfully tore down his half of their shared semi-detached house.<\/p>\n

Shivarna Mitra, 44, claims she spent years saving for the three-bedroom property in Pudsey, where she lived with her young son and elderly mother.<\/p>\n

She purchased the \u00a3217,000 home in May 2021, describing it as her “forever home.”<\/p>\n

Just 18 months later, her neighbour demolished his side of the building, leaving behind little more than rubble and overgrown land.<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra’s property was left with holes in its walls and roof, causing extensive damage throughout.<\/p>\n

The destruction unfolded while Ms Mitra was recovering from cancer.<\/p>\n

She now believes her home is unsellable and structurally unsafe, but she cannot access the neighbouring land to carry out repairs.<\/p>\n

Rats have made their way into her home through the gaps and chewed through her wiring, while squirrels and wasps have also invaded the property.<\/p>\n

Damp and mould spread across the home, and rainwater seeped in, ruining carpets, wallpaper and electrics.<\/p>\n

\"Shivarna<\/p>\n

PICTURED: Shivarna Mitra’s home – before and after it was cut in half<\/p>\n

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GOOGLE<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra said: “Water has got in through the roof and holes in the wall and has caused mould and damp, affecting my son’s chest and my health but no one cares.”<\/p>\n

Her monthly heating bill has now reached around \u00a3630 due to her being forced to runn radiators and portable heaters at full capacity during winter.<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra said: “I was really chuffed when I bought it – but the whole ordeal has been a nightmare and it’s caused me to be very ill.”<\/p>\n

She had spent \u00a380,000 renovating the property after purchase, including a \u00a335,000 garden with astroturf and a new kitchen.<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra said: “I spent a lot of money to turn this into a house of my dreams but now I have nothing to show for it.”<\/p>\n

The adjoining property had previously belonged to an elderly woman, who sold it to her neighbour for \u00a3280,000 in July 2022.<\/p>\n

NEIGHBOUR ROWS – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Pudsey<\/p>\n

The property on the right had previously belonged to an elderly woman, who sold it to her neighbour for \u00a3280,000 in July 2022<\/p>\n

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GOOGLE<\/p>\n

\"Pudsey<\/p>\n

Leeds City Council confirmed the demolition took place ‘without necessary permissions’<\/p>\n

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GOOGLE<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra says he initially appeared “friendly and charming” but turned aggressive when she questioned his plans to remove the party wall.<\/p>\n

He submitted two planning applications for extensions in June and August 2022, both of which were approved by Leeds Council.<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra claims he then used those approvals to justify demolishing the entire house, which he denies.<\/p>\n

By December 2022, he had removed the roof, allegedly leaving her home exposed to the elements.<\/p>\n

She contacted the council in January 2023, but a stop notice was not issued until May – which she described as “too little too late.”<\/p>\n

Her neighbour said: “This was a series of unfortunate circumstances that have created a bad situation, of which I tried to work with all parties concerned at every point to resolve.”<\/p>\n

\"Leeds<\/p>\n

Rats have made their way into Ms Mitra’s home through the gaps and chewed through her wiring, while squirrels and wasps have also invaded the property<\/p>\n

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GOOGLE<\/p>\n

He later sold the plot with planning permission for \u00a3115,000, claiming the council had treated him unfairly.<\/p>\n

Ms Mitra said: “He had pulled down his side of the party wall and the breeze blocks meaning I only had a layer of bricks protecting my house from the outside. The council have a duty of care to its residents – I have not felt that way.<\/p>\n

“In all my requests for help to ask if they could make sure my house is safe, they never once came out, leaving it all on me.”<\/p>\n

Her insurer has filed a legal claim, though she says it remains roughly two years from reaching court.<\/p>\n

Leeds City Council confirmed the demolition took place “without necessary permissions” but said inspectors found the property “remained structurally stable” – despite the holes in its walls.<\/p>\n

“As these are privately owned properties, the council advised Ms Mitra to contact her house insurer and take legal advice,” the council added, and said it would continue monitoring the site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Leeds mother says her life has been turned into a four-year “nightmare” after her neighbour unlawfully tore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[35884,59,67681,50,2331,101,56,54,55,16979],"class_list":["post-787254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-across-the-uk","tag-gb","tag-neighbour-rows","tag-news","tag-sgg","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-yorkshire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}