Darwen: Abandoned London Terrace house to be taken over

The house on London Terrace, Darwen, has been empty since December 2018 and left in a "poor state of repair", making it one of more than 2,700 empty properties around the borough.

But steps are now being taken by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to take over the house through a “compulsory purchase order”, one of more than 30 taken over in this way so far.

Council leader Cllr Phil Riley said: “I think properties like these cause a great deal of dismay in their local areas and we, the council, try our best to engage with the owners but find that we often can’t.

“But we can’t leave them as they are, if we did they would continue to deteriorate and bring the rest of the area down with them.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council will be taking the house over (Image: Newsquest)

“So, we have this process of CPOing them, taking them over and then moving them to new ownership which we hope will then go on to regenerate the properties.” 

The London Terrace house is one on 2,711 empty properties around Blackburn with Darwen that stood empty as of last month.

This came to just over four per cent of the borough’s entire housing stock.

Of these, 921 are classed as long term empty, having been abandoned for more than six months, while 295 of these have been vacant for more than two years.

But efforts have been underway to tackle empty homes, which can often degenerate into magnets for anti-social behaviour and rubbish dumping.

So far 31 homes have been taken over through compulsory purchase orders, the same process now recommended for the London Terrace house.

Only last February a similar order was carried out against a house on Lisbon Road, also in Darwen, that had been empty since June 2011 and also in a state of disrepair.

The following April a terraced house on Coleridge Street in Blackburn was taken over in the same way after having been empty since August 2022, failing into disrepair and attracting fly tipping.

According to the document, council officers have been trying contact the London Terrace house’s owner since 2019.

But despite the disrepair the house has fallen into and complaints from neighbours, they have had no success.

The report said: “The external condition is poor and neglected, especially at the rear, with render coming off the kitchen annexe, holes in the annexe wall and mould growth on the external walls.

“The rear yard has been boarded over and covered with aluminium sheeting at some time in the past, which has been ripped down allowing easy access to the rear of the yard.”

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It added: “The claim of occupation was deemed to be false and correspondence was forwarded to the owner at his new contact address. 

“Despite further attempts to open discussions with the owner, no response has been received and the property continues to remain in a poor condition which is having a negative impact on the local neighbourhood.”

Council cabinet member for growth and development Cllr Quesir Mahmood has now approved plans to take over the house through a compulsory purchase order as recommended.

The council is now expected to spend £3000 servicing the appropriate legal notices and another £1000 on estate agent fees.

Once taken over the house will be offered for sale through an estate agent to the highest bidder with preference given to a buyer who will occupy it once it is renovated.