Minutes:
Councillor Lesley Kelly, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report
Cabinet received a report (containing exempt information and not available to the press or public) setting out in detail aspects of the proposals referred to below.
The report sought permission to proceed with the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in relation to selected empty properties across the Borough, as part of the empty property enforcement programme.
The approach was in accordance with the aims agreed by Members when they approved the Empty Homes Strategy 2009-2012 at Cabinet on 18 November 2009.
The Housing Needs and Strategy section of the Housing and Public Protection Service dealt with empty properties in the Borough. 8 properties had been identified by Council officers as being high risk, long term empty properties. In each of the cases described in the report, negotiations between Officers and the property owners had failed to return the properties to occupation.
Officers considered that making a CPO over each of the properties listed in the Appendix was the most appropriate and expedient method of bringing those properties back into occupation:
Reasons for the decision:
All attempts to bring the subject properties back into occupation by working cooperatively with the owners had failed. If Compulsory Purchase Orders were authorised by Council, efforts would continue to negotiate with owners as recommended by Circular 06/2004 from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Other options considered:
Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) had been considered, however were not considered suitable as the owners of the properties had largely not cooperated with the Council’s efforts to have the properties reoccupied. Also many of the properties required extensive work. Under an EDMO, Council would recover the costs of any works undertake by letting the properties. Given that most of the properties in the report required significant work; there would be a lengthy delay before the cost of the works could be fully recovered, and the use of EDMOs in these cases was therefore considered unfeasible.
Cabinet DECIDED to proceed with the proposals as recommended in the report submitted. The details of which are set out in the Appendix to these minutes containing exempt information (and not available to the press or public)