Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance introduced an options paper in respect of the former caretaker’s house at 145 Halbutt Street, Dagenham.

The Cabinet Member advised that the property had been vacant for two years and a valuation had been commissioned last year to inform discussions between Council officers regarding the future of the property.  The potential costs associated with transferring the property from the Council’s General Fund to the Housing Revenue Account and bringing it up to a modern, habitable condition for letting as a Council house had initially been assessed as uneconomical.  As a consequence, the Council’s Property Asset Group had identified the property as appropriate for sale on the open market via public auction.

Arising from consideration of the options set out in the main report and the financial information contained in the exempt appendix to the report, it was suggested that a decision on the matter should be deferred pending a site visit and a reassessment by officers of all the options.

The Cabinet Member for Housing also stressed the need for proper arrangements to be in place within the Housing Service to ensure that the Council’s exposure to repair costs for vacant properties are minimised.

Cabinet resolved that no action be taken in respect of the sale of the premises pending a further report to the Cabinet following a re-assessment by officers, in consultation with relevant Cabinet Members, of the options for the site.