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Mad scramble to buy 35 empty houses in Stoke-on-Trent



With its reputation for burglaries and arson attacks, Cobridge in Stoke-on-Trent is not usually thought of as a particularly desirable place to live.

But that was until the council dropped the cost of houses in the rundown area – to £1.

Six hundred people have now applied for the chance to own one of 35 empty two and three bedroom homes.



Popular: Hundreds of people have expressed an interest in buying rundown houses in Stoke for just £1 each, it emerged today





Interested: The city council announced that 600 people have already applied to purchase the properties

Each will be randomly allocated after applications close, on May 12, and the new owners will receive a low interest loan of £30,000 for renovation.

Applicants must already live in the area, work but have a joint income of less than £30,000, have the right to live in the UK, have no other homes and agree to live there for five years.

The £3million scheme, funded by Stoke-on-Trent city council and the Government, is a desperate attempt to transform the area as its derelict buildings have made it a target for crime and arson.




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Speaking to the BBC, councillor Janine Bridges, responsible for housing, said the scheme would transform a rundown area of the city.

She said: 'The project will not only benefit the residents who are currently living next door to properties that have been vacant for some time, it will also give families moving into the homes the chance to take their first step on the property ladder.'




Unattractive: The council is desperate to fill and fix up the derelict buildings and turn the fortunes around for the crime-ridden area





Forward thinking: Thirty-five derelict homes are being initially sold by Stoke City Council for the nominal sum of £1. Up to 89 homes may also be sold in the future



The only catch of the scheme is that the owner must renovate the house and live there five years before it can be sold.

The properties for sale, which have two to three bedrooms and a backyard, are in a variety of conditions from liveable to desperately needing refurbishment.

Council bosses believe the abandoned buildings are bringing down living standards and raising crime rates by attracting arson attacks, squatters, burglary as well as devaluing and damaging nearby properties.


Abandoned houses are a huge problem in the area with some 4,000 buildings left empty in Stoke as of January 2011, according to council tax data.


The council’s empty house team aims to ‘bring long term empty homes back into use to improve the standard of housing in the city and to bring life back into our communities’ according to the council website.






Deal: The only catch is that the owner must renovate the house and live there five years before it can be sold






Concerns: Council bosses believe the abandoned buildings are bringing down living standards and raising crime rates





The scheme is focusing on Stoke properties in the Portland Street area, Cobridge and the Bond Street area, Tunstall.

Local resident John Bannister, 72, previously said: ‘At the moment there is vandalism, people using the back yards of empty houses for fly-tipping and all kinds of problems.

‘There are 18 empty houses just on Bond Street. We want families to come in and stay. Something needs to be done.’

One council tenant, Slovakian immigrant Gabriel Litavec, says the move would help him to get on the property ladder.

The 50-year-old factory worker, who arrived in the country in 2005, has been living in a council-owned property in Denbigh Street, for the last four years.

The father-of-two and former teacher hopes to buy one of the vacant properties along the street.

He said: ‘It is a good chance to get on the property ladder and own my own house.

‘If I am able to buy a house and refurbish it I can make it how I want it to be. I think there are far too many boarded-up houses in the area.’


People have until 12 May to apply for one.

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