Council houses left derelict

12:30pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

Comments (5)   Have your say »

Houses are being left derelict because a council says it would cost more to fix up than they would return in rent.

Derelict council houses are costing Kingston more than £10,000 in lost rents every month after being allowed to sink into a state of disrepair, it has been claimed.

Three family homes have been left “unfit for human habitation” in one road alone, leaving neighbours angry about the smell and rubbish left behind by previous tenants.

But the council says the derelict homes would cost more to fix up than they would return in rent and taxpayer money has to be spent on its occupied houses.

Instead, the homes have been put up for sale to housing associations.

A decision over who will take them on will be made next month.

The council says selling the homes means the associations can pay for the extensive repairs needed to bring them back in to use by council tenants.

In total, 27 homes are currently lying empty in the borough.

A spokesman from Kingston council said that most of the houses are “extensively damp” and would cost between £30,000 and £50,000 to bring up to scratch with new kitchens, bathrooms, electrics and heating systems fitted.

He added: “The rents are approximately £5200 per year. It would therefore take between five and ten years for the works to pay for themselves.

“Given the state of the council’s existing finances, this cannot be sustained as all available resources are being used to deliver basic health and safety repairs to our existing stock.”

Residents in Douglas Road, Kingston, claim one house has been empty for two years, which could have generated £10,000 alone in rent during that time.

Councillor Steve Mama, who has only just uncovered the extent of the problem, said: “Why have they been allowed to get into that state into the first place? It’s a scandal. These houses could be earning the council money.

“The gardens are overgrown and they are being used as rubbish dumps. They are full of fridges.”

He has written to the head of the housing department demanding to know why the repairs have not been carried out when the council accounts revealed it had £676,000 left in its housing pot last year.

One Douglas Road homeowner, who lives next door to a derelict property said: “I’m surprised a squatter hasn’t moved in there. The council moan that they don’t have the houses and there are people on the housing list but they are leaving these empty.”