Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
These images show a quaint blue house surrounded by a towering property complex after the elderly woman owner refused to sell up to developers.
According to local media, residents of the new apartment blocks are said to be angry that a large section of what should be the car park and playground area is still home to the OAP’s blue house.
The recent property development, called Odinburg, is situated in the city of Odintsovo just outside the western Russian capital Moscow.
Meanwhile, the quaint blue house belongs to an elderly woman identified only by her first name Olga and it sits in the middle of an area that was supposed to be part of the car park and a large children’s play area, according to local media.
Local residents are said to be frustrated with the property company AFI Development for reportedly failing to deal with the house owner and leaving them with not enough parking spaces.
According to reports, AFI Development representatives spoke with the woman in 2016 and tried to persuade her to sell up and accept a flat in the then under-construction residential block.
Local media said the company offered her a monetary package of between 10 and 20 million RUB (118,450 and 236,900 GBP) which she knocked back.
Her daughter told local media: “Olga has said many times that she does not need the money. What she needs is another property in the countryside like the one she had not far from here.”
The family added that the developers stopped communicating with them and they have not heard anything from them since 2016.
The daughter said: “The last thing we heard from the developers was ‘we are no longer interested in purchasing your land’.”
However, reports said that annoyed residents are trying to legally force the company to resolve the dispute and remove the blue house which ‘spoils their view’.
Netizen ‘Philatelist’ said: “I think this woman managed to go against the whole system and prevail.”
‘Graf Sokolov’ commented: “The development company was too greedy, they could have bought her a similar property to what she has nearby.”
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