A STREET is set to become one of the cheapest in the county after housing bosses unveiled plans which could see them selling off properties for next to nothing.
Twin Valley Homes are even considering selling off the ten properties in Brecon Road, Whitebirk, Blackburn, for a nominal fee -- and will only say that they will cost more than £1.
But they won't be the bargain they seem at first -- the buyers will have to commit to undertaking thousands of pounds worth of repairs, including decorating, fitting new doors and replacing windows.
The ten 'mini-terraced' properties -- houses built in blocks of three -- are currently unoccupied and in need of urgent repairs.
Instead of carrying out the repairs themselves Twin Valley Homes, which took over Blackburn with Darwen Council's housing stock last April, wants to sell them off and is about to have them valued.
Private landlords are banned from buying them, and the new owners will be expected to live in them once they become inhabitable again.
The 'Buy and DIY' scheme is modelled on a project called Homesteading pioneered by Sheffield City Council which sold some houses for just £6,000. Because they are a council, the biggest discount they could give to new buyers was 50 per cent.
But Twin Valley is not constrained by such restrictions, and is currently valuing the homes.
At most it will only charge around 40 or 50 per cent of the value of the homes. All are in Council Tax Band A, meaning they are all worth under £40,000.
Alan Worthington, 38, a part time cleaner, of Brecon Road, said: "I have heard so many stories about what is going to be done with the houses I don't know what to believe.
"Selling houses for £1 or whatever the amount may be seems stupid but on the other hand at least people will be moving into the houses.
"I moved up from Kent and wondered what on earth I was coming to, but I have got to admit that I really enjoy living on here. I think the community spirit in the area is brilliant.
"When summer comes, I forget about wanting to go on holiday because we all get together and have barbecues in our gardens."
Chris Gibbins, Director of Property at Twin Valley Homes, said: "We are developing a 'Buy and DIY' scheme involving ten properties in Brecon Road.
"It's an alternative option, which has been adopted in other areas of the country, for bringing empty properties back into use.
"We are talking to the Tenants Association about the idea but firm details about how such a scheme would operate and prices will not be ready until later in the year."
Mr Gibbins added that the project had the backing of the Empty Homes Agency, a body set up to tackle the rising number of empty houses.
Twin Valley last week unveiled plans to demolish 500 empty homes across Blackburn and Darwen. Last year, Pendle Council sold off a house for just £1 -- although it did need £32,000 worth of repairs.
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