The fight to tackle a former RBKC councillor who has been the “neighbour from hell” for the past 16 years is being escalated.

Residents in a Chelsea street are so “exasperated” by the inaction of the council that they have launched a petition and have called upon The Chelsea Citizen to shine a spotlight on their plight.

So far, 46 people from 38 separate homes in the same street have united to sign the petition and voice their fury that the property owner has been allowed to let his house fall into chronic disrepair unchallenged. The central aim of the petition is to jump-start the council into taking enforcement action from a legal order that they successful served in 2016.

The house in question is owned by Mr Nicholas Halbritter, a one-time prominent local resident in his 70s who served as a Tory councillor at RBKC from 2002-2006. He is also still the Chairman of the Chelsea & Kensington branch of the Royal British Legion.

If his home was on the open market, the four-storey Victorian house would be worth at least £3m, but Mr Halbritter has let it descend into a derelict state. Residents have had to live alongside a number of problems resulting from the house, including:

• the rampant spread of lethal Japanese knotweed in the back garden that has grown beyond 10ft
• the stench of the decaying corpse of a resident who died in the rental basement flat
• unbearable noise from mating foxes that have taken up residence in the abandoned basement, along with rats
• water leaks from a mains pipe that broke two years ago, which attracts swarms of mosquitoes in warmer months

‘The whole situation is deplorable and unbearable,’ said one resident. ‘We are beyond exasperated. No matter how many times we complain, the council is unwilling to make this man sort out the house. How can we be expected to live next to this disgusting dump for years and years on end?’

The Citizen knows the address of the property, but is not revealing it at this stage, although we can say that it is north of the Fulham Road.

RBKC has successfully taken on Mr Halbritter in the past. In August 2016, it served him with a Section 215 Notice ordering him to clean up the property. This included an itemised list of repairs that was seen by residents.

When he ignored request, Mr Halbritter was taken to court and prosecuted for permitting knotweed infestation. He pleaded guilty and was fined £467 and ordered to pay court costs of £1,000 at Hammersmith Magistrates Court. Despite this verdict, however, he has steadfastly refused to comply with the court order ever since. Residents are calling on RBKC to finally enforce this notice.

It appears that a resolution to the issue currently rests with Mr Beau Stanford-Francis, RBKC’s Executive Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods. Residents claim that he told them during an online meeting that the council is “powerless to act”, which they refute. They also say that during another meeting Mr Stanford-Francis claimed that the council could only act if there was “a danger to the public”, which they also say is inaccurate. The residents also say that he claimed another reason for inaction was because “an Englishman’s home is his castle”.

One resident added: ‘Mr Halbritter has simply ignored the conviction and the court order for years. How can that happen? It makes a mockery of the entire process. It is inexplicable how he can continue to get away with it. he is the ultimate neighbour from hell. He just thumbs his nose at the council, as if he is above the law.

‘Ever since the court case, we have been fobbed off by the council. They say that they are powerless to act, but this is simply not true. They should go after him under the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and get this mess sorted out, once and for all. As residents, we have researched the Act thoroughly and it is clear that the council definitely has the power to enforce action.

‘Mr Halbritter should have been given 28 days to do the works. If he missed that deadline, then they should have issued fines. Ultimately, they have the power to forcibly go into the property and do the work themselves – then charge the owner for it. If he then fails to pay for that, they could seize the property and bankrupt him. All this action is available, but nothing happens. It is like he gets a free pass and everyone else can lump it.

‘The council says that it fulfilled its duty by taking him to court- yet it did not enforce the judgement, so what good has that done? We despair. RBKC officers have done everything they can to obfuscate and deny any liability. This has been going on for far too long. Something simply must be done about it. It is intolerable.’

Local MP Ben Coleman intervened earlier this year by writing to senior officers at RBKC, but got nowhere. Mr Coleman issued this brief statement to The Citizen: ‘I met the council’s chief executive [Ms Maxine Holdsworth] and raised this with her. It’s frustrating that she tells me the council can’t intervene further and that the house owner didn’t reply when I wrote to him. We need everyone to be a good neighbour.’

In his previous correspondence with the council, Mr Coleman had suggested alternative routes to resolve the issue, including taking action under Building Control or Environmental Health legislation. He also suggested making an Empty Dwelling Management Order under The Housing Act 2004 as well as for the council to charge Mr Halbritter “300% council tax” for keeping the basement flat empty.

The Citizen is aware of lengthy email threads between residents and council officers that seem to present some confusion. In one instance, a senior officer reveals that RBKC’s arboricultural experts had confirmed that Japanese knotweed was present in the property’s back garden. Yet, a later email from an even more senior officer states that it is not knotweed. What is clear is that Mr Halbritter has continually denied the council access to his property, despite the outcome of the court case.

It has emerged that Mr Halbritter also owns two properties in the Camberwell area of South London that are also in complete disrepair. The roof at one property has collapsed. Camberwell council has also failed to do anything to make him repair his buildings, despite numerous complaints from residents there.

It is not clear where Mr Halbritter lives permanently, but residents say that he rarely appears to occupy his Chelsea home. When he is there, only a first floor room has a light on, whilst the rest of the house remains in darkness. The Citizen knocked on the door this week to speak with Mr Halbritter, but there was no response.

An earlier statement from RBKC referred to the access issues concerning “private land”. The Citizen has requested a fuller new statement that can address all aspects of this long-running saga.

A council spokesperson said: ‘It is a difficult one because a lot of the issues are on private land, where we have limited enforcement powers. An independent solicitor may be able to provide advice on their specific circumstances and legal remedies available through civil resolutions.’