St Helens crackdown on empty homes

St Helens Council, as part of its Empty Property Strategy, has taken ownership of two derelict houses at 62 Emily Street and 3 Elm Road through two Compulsory Purchase Orders.

This came about after more than four years of trying to track down the owners to establish their proposals for the properties. Improvement works will now be carried out and the houses will be put on the market.

Cllr Richard Ferry, Executive Member for Urban Regeneration, said: “It became apparent that both of these properties were abandoned with no likelihood of the owners coming forward and the decision was made to use Compulsory Purchase powers.

"The reoccupation of long-term empty properties throughout the Borough is essential to provide good quality affordable housing for our residents.

"Reoccupation is also essential to improve the ‘liveability’ factor in all our neighbourhoods by reducing the number of empty properties that may be targets for vandalism and fly tipping. Through targeting these properties it is also hoped to raise the overall standard of properties.

“We hope this sends out a clear message to property owners that we will take action if properties are left empty for longer than six months. This is something we will not tolerate.

"The CPO process is just one of the options available to the Council in dealing with empty properties as the government has introduced many more powers to tackle this increasingly important issue.”

The Council is also considering taking legal action such as the use of CPO powers in respect of the following properties after contact with an owner has not been possible.

If you own or know of anyone who may own or have an interest in the following properties, please contact the Empty Property Team on 01744 456211 or 01744 671638.

26 Abberley Close, WA10 2AZ
62 Morris Street, WA9 3EN
1 Telford Drive, WA9 3GR
40 Conway Drive, WA12 8PZ