A man whose home was bought under compulsory purchase 40 years ago was amazed to see it still standing.
Dennis Collins had spent most of his life in Tivoli Road, Hounslow, before being forced to move in 1968.
The terraced house was one of six due to be demolished to make way for the second phase of a development of flats.
But, although the first phase was finished on schedule, builders never completed the project.
Mr Collins, a former clerk at Hercules Engineering in Whitton Road, Isleworth, was happy with the settlement for his old home but is disappointed never to have seen the finished development.
The 86-year-old, who now lives in Ashford, remembers watching his former home being built in 1929.
"I got caught messing around on the scaffolding once by the nightwatchman but I managed to crawl along and escape via one of the other staircases," he said.
Residents surrounding Hounslow's Blenheim Centre will be keen to avoid a similar delay on the second phase of the project after work stalled when the council cut ties with developer Blenheim Norwest last year.
