Decision details
Purchase of a long-term property to provide affordable housing
Decision Maker: Portfolio Holder for People - Adult Social Care, Health and Housing
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Purpose:
Reason
for the Decision
To
bring a long-term empty property back into use and create a 3-bedroom family
home in an area of high housing need.
Alternative
Options considered and rejected
Take
no action
– without Council intervention it is very likely that the property will remain
empty for the foreseeable future. The Council has a high demand for
accommodation in this area.
Purchase
the property and ‘back-to-back’ private sale - The Council has a high demand for
affordable and temporary accommodation in this area and 25 Dawlish Crescent
represents an ideal opportunity to further meet such demand.
Compulsory
Purchase –
the current owner has agreed to sell the property to the Council and therefore
acquiring the property using Compulsory Purchase powers is not appropriate.
Empty
Dwelling Management Order – this would require the Council to renovate the property, allocate
tenants and manage the building for 7 years and then ‘hand it back’ to the
current owner. As such this option does not offer long term value for money for
the Council. The current owner
has agreed to sell the property to the Council
Budget Implications
It
is estimated that the buildings current market value in its current condition
is in the region of £250,000.
It
is proposed that the Council use capital ‘to bring a long-term empty property
back into use’ to purchase and renovate the property.
Renovation
and improvement costs to make the property decent and safe are estimated to be
in the region of £50-60,000 subject to detailed inspection and specification.
Legal Implications
The
Councils solicitors would handle the purchase of the property and it would be
subject to the normal legal searches and building survey prior to exchange of
contracts.
Any
Conflict of Interest
None
Decision:
Decision
The Portfolio
Holder for Housing delegates to the Corporate Director for Housing to take all
necessary steps to purchase and renovate the property known as 25 Dawlish
Crescent, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9JN using the empty homes unapproved capital pot
.
Publication date: 03/05/2022
Date of decision: 03/05/2022
Accompanying Documents:
- Background Documents