The Hood is under construction. Gardens are not essential to modern living, so apartment blocks fill what once was lush grass and flower beds. Money is money and land in The Hood is at a premium, so it’s hardly surprising. Unfortunately, it is at the cost of some architectural delights of the area. Families inheriting their parents’ house and spacious garden often opt to sell the property and split the proceeds. Developers salivate.

It is illegal to knock down an old building in The Hood. This means that the old villas stay but suddenly have walls up around them as a new apartment building fills the garden.

This is a villa that apparently once had ponies in the garden. The villa is now inhabited by (from what I can make out) security men. The apartment block is going to be five or seven stories high and surrounds the house on two sides. The back is only a few metres from the villa.

There is apparently a loophole: a building that is unstable can be torn down. Apparently,* it would be possible to build an underground car park that extends under the old building and by sheer coincidence destabalises its foundations. No longer structurally safe, the villa needs to be torn down and in its place goes another apartment building.

*I, of course, am only speculating on hearsay. I am not suggesting that this is the case with the pictured building.