Waltham Forest Council is set to serve an enforcement notice to tear down an illegal building built between two terraced homes.

Work started on the plywood abode in Manor Road, Leyton, about a month ago, and it has quickly divided neighbours, some of whom welcome the home while others fear it will create overcrowding.

The wooden structure is built on the site of a former garage which was attached to number 105, but does not have planning permission.

The council was not immediately sure whether it had broken planning regulations, but a spokesman said the authority will serve a notice to pull down the structure “as soon as possible”, after serving a temporary notice to prevent building continuing over the weekend.

Cabinet member for the environment Clyde Loakes added: “As soon as this issue came to the attention of the council, officers visited the site in the company of the owner. In order to prevent any further unauthorised development a Temporary Stop Notice was served.

“Arrangements have been made for council staff to monitor the site over the long weekend and the neighbours directly affected by the development have been asked to contact the council should any further works take place.”

Number 105 has a for sale sign by estate agents Allen Davies, which said it is not responsible for selling the new home, but told the Guardian that it is no longer selling number 105.

A spokesman said: "It's nothing to do with us whatsoever. No-one knows anything about it really. It's a curious structure."

Neighbours said no tenants have been found for the property, which is still under construction, and do not know the owner of the garage or the name of the building company working on it.

Claire Weiss, of nearby Lea Hall Road, told theGuardian she has complained to the council about the building.

The 65-year-old said: “I feel sorry for whoever will live there. People shouldn’t have to live in a space like that, even with the housing crisis.

“Passing by I’ve seen inside when the doors open and you can see right through to the back garden. There’s no dividing wall. It’s a garage with a loft.

“It’s dreadful and it doesn’t fit in at all with the other houses.”

There are 24,000 people on the council’s housing waiting list and, as of March, just 60 empty homes in the borough, many of which have been allocated already.

The council is trying to free up space for housing developments by targeting disused garages.

It has found 159 sites around the borough, and the strategy is expected to create hundreds of homes.

Des Douglas, 64, who lives opposite the development, said: “It’s a bit rough but other than that it doesn’t bother me. It hasn’t been used for years as a garage so why not?

“There’s a shortage of housing so everything helps.”

Forest YMCA, of Forest Road, Walthamstow, is trying to tackle homelessness in the borough by trialling use of shipping containers as makeshift homes for young people who cannot afford to rent or buy their own property.