The move is a result of May’s local government elections, which returned a Liberal Democrat/Conservative leadership after decades of Labour rule. The incoming regime discovered that the housing department had spent as much as £259,000 on refurbishing a single house, 59 Thurlow Park Road, while 170 properties stood empty – some for years – awaiting essential repairs.
The move marks a departure from Lambeth’s previous policy. Properties that the council was once reluctant to part with will now be sold.
The first will be 50 Carson Road, Dulwich, which is expected to sell for around £750,000 at an auction on 18 July. The house at Thurlow Park Road could fetch more than £1m when it is sold, probably in September this year.
The money raised will be available to the new administration to spend on improving the borough’s housing stock.
Deputy leader John Whelan explained to Housing Today: “We are driving through a review of all our property to get proper valuations. We will also roll out a programme of compulsory purchase orders to acquire derelict private sector houses and bring them back into use.
“Under Labour, the authority simply sat on these sites and its own voids hoping a fairy godmother would come along, while they chose to spend massive amounts on a few houses in the heart of middle-class areas.”
Source
Housing Today
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