Hope at last for empty homes in Sheffield lying unused for over a decade

The Star recently recently highlighted how 122 homes across the city had been unoccupied for at least 10 years, which the Liberal Democrats branded a 'scandal'.

That prompted readers to get in touch with tales of vacant homes near them.

Sidney Sheldon told how a semi-detached house on his street, Marchwood Road, in Stannington, had been unoccupied for more than 15 years.

He said the current owner had inherited the property when his parents died.

"The front door's been boarded up since some lads broke in, and the garden's a jungle. It looks terrible, and I feel sorry for the people living next door," he said.

"There are so many empty houses, yet people are waiting for homes. I can't add that up."

Irene Davy, of Mulehouse Road, in Crookes, said a house at the bottom of her street had been empty for 15-20 years.

"It looks awful. It's such a shame to see a decent building like that going to rack and ruin when it would make a lovely family home," said the 72-year-old former librarian.

"I don't know who owns it but when windows have been broken in the past, they have been boarded up.

"There are powers the council can use to take over empty properties, but they don't seem to have done so in this case."

Ms Davy told how she had welcomed what she thought were the new inhabitants around a decade ago, only to get a nasty shock the next day.

"I saw them entering the house and told them how nice it was to finally have someone moving in and doing the place up, but it turned out they were burglars," she said.

Local authorities can use Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMO) to take over unoccupied properties, but this power has not been used in Sheffield in the last five years.

However, a council spokesman said it was taking action over these two properties.

"We investigate all cases where we receive complaints about long-term empty properties and, when the owner refuses offers of advice and assistance in bringing their property back into use, we can look at a range of enforcement to deal with nuisance and any serious issues found at the properties," he said.

"We are aware of these two particular properties and are hopeful that we can bring them back into occupation.

"We have offered advice to the owner of Mulehouse Road and have offered to buy the property.

"We have also located the owner of Marchwood Road and taken enforcement action due to hazards found in the property. We look forward to seeing people living in these properties shortly."