Agenda item

Cabinet agreed that:

1       Approval be given to the making of the following Compulsory Purchase Orders in accordance with section 17 of the Housing Act 1985 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 to acquire all legal interests in the relevant properties:

(a)          London Borough of Havering (11 Wolseley Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(b)          London Borough of Havering (82 Ravensbourne Crescent) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(c)          London Borough of Havering (106 Frederick Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(d)          London Borough of Havering (78 Winchester Avenue) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013-10-16

(e)          London Borough of Havering (58 Dominion Drive) Compulsory Purchase Order

2       In relation to each of Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to alter the Compulsory Purchase Order so as to exclude any land/interests acquired prior to the sealing of the Order.

3       In relation to each of Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to seal the Order and take all necessary steps, including the publication of all statutory notices to secure confirmation of the Order.

4       In relation to each of the Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services (in the event that the Secretary of State notifying the Council that it had been given the power to confirm any of the Compulsory Purchase Orders) to confirm the Order and take all steps necessary to secure possession of the property, including the making of a General Vesting Declaration if he or she was satisfied that it was appropriate to do so.

5       In relation to each of the Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to suspend the Compulsory Purchase procedure if the Private Sector Housing Manager, Homes & Housing was able to reach an agreement with Owners of these properties with regard to repair, refurbishment and reoccupation of any of the properties.

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.

This approach was in accordance with the aims agreed by Members when approving the Empty Homes Strategy 2009-2012 at Cabinet on 18th November 2009 and most recently the 2013 – 16 Draft Housing Strategy at Cabinet on 16^th October 2013.

The Housing Needs and Strategy section of Homes and Housing dealt with empty properties in the Borough.  Five 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 now considered that making a CPO over each of the properties listed below was the most appropriate and expedient method of bringing those properties back into occupation:

(a)    11 Wolseley Road, Romford

(b)    82 Ravensbourne Crescent, Harold Wood

(c)    106 Frederick Road, Rainham

(d)    78 Winchester Avenue, Upminster

(e)    58 Dominion Drive, Romford

With regard to empty properties (d) and (e) above which were originally submitted to Cabinet on 10^th July 2010 and approved for CPO, officers felt that because there had been changes to the properties which still remained empty, it would be appropriate to seek the Cabinet’s further approval to pursue CPOs against these two properties.

The details of the correspondence and interactions with the individuals involved were included in Exempt Appendices.  The reason why the Appendices were exempt was that they included confidential details of individuals.

Reasons for the decision:

All attempts to bring the subject properties back into occupation by working cooperatively with the owners had failed.

Other options considered:

Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) were considered, however they were not suitable because the owners of the properties had not cooperated with the Council’s efforts to have the properties reoccupied. 

Many of the properties require extensive work and under an EDMO, the Council would recover the costs of any works undertake by letting the properties.  Given that most of these properties 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 the actions detailed above was therefore considered unfeasible.

Cabinet agreed that:

1       Approval be given to the making of the following Compulsory Purchase Orders in accordance with section 17 of the Housing Act 1985 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 to acquire all legal interests in the relevant properties:

(a)          London Borough of Havering (11 Wolseley Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(b)          London Borough of Havering (82 Ravensbourne Crescent) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(c)          London Borough of Havering (106 Frederick Road) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013

(d)          London Borough of Havering (78 Winchester Avenue) Compulsory Purchase Order 2013-10-16

(e)          London Borough of Havering (58 Dominion Drive) Compulsory Purchase Order

2       In relation to each of Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to alter the Compulsory Purchase Order so as to exclude any land/interests acquired prior to the sealing of the Order.

3       In relation to each of Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to seal the Order and take all necessary steps, including the publication of all statutory notices to secure confirmation of the Order.

4       In relation to each of the Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services (in the event that the Secretary of State notifying the Council that it had been given the power to confirm any of the Compulsory Purchase Orders) to confirm the Order and take all steps necessary to secure possession of the property, including the making of a General Vesting Declaration if he or she was satisfied that it was appropriate to do so.

5       In relation to each of the Compulsory Purchase Orders authorised by paragraph 1 above, authorised the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services to suspend the Compulsory Purchase procedure if the Private Sector Housing Manager, Homes & Housing was able to reach an agreement with Owners of these properties with regard to repair, refurbishment and reoccupation of any of the properties.