Maidenhead & Windsor

There's a "happy ending" this week to the story of the Maidenhead Royal Borough's first successful compulsory purchase order which has resulted in the sale of an empty, semi-derelict house in Wellington Road, Maidenhead.

The new owners – both teachers in the Maidenhead Royal Borough - completed the purchase on Monday and are now about to embark on a major restoration project on the semi-detached house which had been left empty for over 30 years.

It is just under a year since Maidenhead council posted CPO notices on the property under the borough's empty homes strategy, which aims to reduce the blight of derelict and empty properties by providing guidance, advice and encouragement to owners to bring their properties back into habitable use. The sale of the property was a direct result of the council's CPO which was confirmed by the Secretary of State in September.

The house had been the subject of numerous complaints over the years on issues ranging from slates falling from the roof, rubbish, litter and an abandoned vehicle left in the front garden as well as infestations of rats and mice – and was even broken into while the property was up for sale on the open market.

When the owner could not be traced, work to make the property safe was carried out by contractors on behalf of Maidenhead council in 1996 – but these repairs could not halt the progress of wet rot which affected much of the timber in the house.

Cllr Simon Werner, lead member for Maidenhead public protection and deputy leader of the council, said:: "I am absolutely delighted that the sale of this property is now complete and that the new owners plan to turn it back into a real home. The house had deteriorated to the point of being dangerous and was blighting the neighburhood.

"The values and saleability of other houses have been seriously affected and, had we not taken this action, we would have been letting down everybody else in the road.

"Under our empty homes strategy we try to encourage owners to bring their properties back into habitable use. But where we have exhausted every avenue, as in this case, we are prepared to use enforcement action as a last resort. In doing so we are underlining our total commitment to bringing long-term empty and derelict properties back into use."

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead