When City of Sydney council cleaned out the front and back yards of a property in one of Glebe's best streets five years ago, the bill came to tens of thousands of dollars.

But unlike the neighbours who had been complaining for years, the owner of the property wasn't fussed. He simply paid the council's bill and resumed his habit of collecting newspapers and books and batteries, slowly refilling the front and back yards of the once prestigious property in Arcadia Road, Glebe.

Uninhabitable: The inside of the once-grand Victorian terrace in Arcadia Street, Glebe is piled high with old newspapers, science textbooks and car batteries. Credit:BPS Recovery

And when they were full, he began refilling the home's interior.

In hindsight the council was lucky. Bills from utilities suppliers were ignored and eventually the man, who has a degree in chemical engineering and used to be a lecturer at Sydney University, was bankrupted. His debts are estimated at $180,000, while the value of his assets exceeds $2 million.