By Sarah Newstead

Last updated 12:04, Monday, 18 August 2008

EYESORE houses blighting north Allerdale could come under council management if their owners fail to bring them up to scratch.

Graham Wilkinson: ‘Boarded-up, empty houses don’t help attract tourists into the town’ said the Mayor of Silloth, who welcomed the powers

New legal powers will allow Allerdale Council to intervene in long-term empty houses, where owners unreasonably refuse to bring them back into occupation.

Properties being prepared for the last resort action are Bank View, Golf Villas, Silloth; 1 Station View, Abbeytown; Sun Inn Cottage, Torpenhow; and a property in Allonby.

In total, 22 properties in North Allerdale are listed as being long-term dilapidated buildings – this includes five in Aspatria, eight in Wigton, four in Silloth and five in the surrounding villages.

According to Eddie Dawson, senior technician in the council’s housing services unit, the orders made under the Housing Act 2004 enable a local authority to “step into the shoes” of the owner.

The authority would arrange refurbishments up to a cost of around £10,000 and let the property to a tenant.

These costs plus a management fee will be deducted from the rental income, with the remainder being passed to the owner.

Mr Dawson said: “Long-term empty dwellings are a national problem and it is the Government’s ambition that no-one should have to live in a neighbourhood scarred by the blight of empty properties.”

Mayor of Silloth Graham Wilkinson welcomed the powers.

“Bank View wants tidying up,” he said. “Boarded-up, empty houses don’t help attract tourists into the town.”

The empty dwelling management orders cannot be used for holiday or second homes, where the occupier is temporarily working away from home or properties where the previous owner/occupier has died and probate procedures are underway.

It can also not be used for properties that are genuinely being sold or marketed for let on realistic terms.