A pensioner has told of his devastation after a house he had spent 25 years renovating went up in flames in a suspected arson attack.
John Bland was alerted by police this morning to the fire at the property, which was worth up to £1 million as a result of his retirement project.
The 80-year-old, who lives a 10-minute walk away, arrived to find the police, fire brigade and forensic officers at the scene in Bromley, Greater London.
The retired building surveyor had spent £70,000 over the course of the DIY renovation and fears he will not be able to save the pink-fronted building — one of two in the neighbourhood to catch fire on the same day.
Police were called at around 9.50pm yesterday to the blaze in Orchard Road, which followed another at a £1.6 million property in nearby Plaistow Lane.
The earlier fire broke out at ‘The White House’ at around 4am.
Struggling to contain his emotions, Mr Bland said: ‘I’m just devastated at the damage that’s been done and it’s still sinking in, it will probably hit me later.
‘I don’t think the house is repairable. By the looks of it, it will take about half a million to put it right. It’s a five-bedroom detached house, or it was.’
Mr Bland bought the house outright for around £135,000 three decades ago and had renovated the property to a good standard.
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He told Metro he had not been able to insure the property because of stipulations such as the fact he does not live full-time at the address.
‘It’s my life’s work,’ he said.
‘I retired when I was 50 and the market was right so I decided it would be a good project to work on.
‘It was worth between £850,000 and a million.
‘I’ve got two choices now, I can either renovate the place, which will be about half a million pounds I can imagine to get it back to where it was.
‘Or I can sell the plot as it stands, as I’ve already had developers who are interested.
‘The land is worth more than the house, so I’m lucky in that respect. I can imagine the developers will be lining up and offering silly prices.’
Mr Bland told Metro that his home had previously been vandalised, resulting in a police investigation.
‘I‘ve had break-ins and about six months ago someone came and trashed my house,’ he said. ‘The police were very good at the time, they came and investigated and someone was convicted.
‘I don’t know if this is connected or not.’
The Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade attended both incidents, with no reports of any injuries.
A Met spokesperson said: ‘This is an active investigation and police are keeping an open mind as to whether these incidents are linked.’
Anyone who has information about either incident is asked to call 101, or message @MetCC on X, providing the reference 1620/27OCT for the Plaistow Lane fire and 7706/27OCT for the Orchard Road fire.
Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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