Leafy housing estate where homes have sat empty since 1990s

Leafy housing estate where homes have sat empty since 1990s View 4 Images

With trimmed lawns, well-maintained roads and stunning views of the Channel, you’d expect these four- and five-bedroom homes on the Kent coast to be in high demand. The hilly cul-de-sac has a playground with a faded slide and a fire-engine rocker - but it has been many years since children ran between the houses.

Every window is covered in steel shutters, front doors bolted, garages locked. The only sound is the wind in the trees and my footsteps as they echo across the pavement, writes Max Chesson.

This is Old Park Close in Dover – the former married officers’ estate for Old Park Barracks. Once home to Army families, it has been empty for decades.

Indeed, walking through it is like stepping back into the 1990