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Sale time as council aims to fill its coffers
A mini housing boom is on the cards as Camden Council prepares to ditch some of its property portfolio to raise vital cash.
But is this just a case of sell now, pay later? Marc Mullen reports
THE big sell-off of empty buildings in Camden is underway as the new council sets about finding the money for a major capital programme.
Camden Council has earmarked £23million for the refurbishment of Kentish Town Sports Centre and £22million needs to be found for the secondary school planned for Swiss Cottage.
The council also needs to bring its houses up to the government's Decent Homes Standard by 2010 and needs to find an extra £21million between now and 2011 to fund its proposals.
The Town Hall has put together a hit list of empty properties it wants to sell off.
And at Thursday's planning meeting councillors set in motion the sale of a former caretaker's house next door to Rhyl primary school in Kentish Town.
They agreed the house, which has lain empty since 2001, no longer needed to be used as a community facility and will be sold at auction in February. The Grade II-listed three-storey building is expected to raise at least £325,000.
A council spokeswoman said: "The building has been out of use for five years and is in a state of dilapidation, which the council does not have funds to remedy.
"The council has a duty to residents to try to get a decent return on its assets. The vacant schoolhouse is a capital asset that is only getting worse and it has been decided that the best option was to dispose of the building now."
The council offered the premises to housing associations to help address the chronic shortage of affordable housing in the borough.
But it has only received one official bid of £200,000 from the Teachers' Housing Association - £125,000 short of the estimated market value.
Nearly 400 parents and neighbours signed a petition in March demanding the house be used for the community, possibly for English lessons.
Helen Reardon-Bond, chairwoman of the governors at Rhyl, said: "Our idea would have had a direct impact on the education of our kids. For many parents of children at Rhyl, English is not their first language.
"Now it will be lost forever to the community. We are very disappointed as we always thought the house should be of some use to the community.
"Now we hear it will be sold at auction we have concerns about who buys it, bearing in mind the garden backs onto our nursery."
Next week the Camden Council-owned Grade II-listed gatehouse cottage in St Pancras and Islington cemetery in East Finchley is up for sale at auction.
The council expects to receive more than £200,000 and says it is selling the house because it is in poor condition and is outside the borough.
And users of the Jamestown mental health day centre in Adelaide Road, which is due to close in April next year, have accused the council of axing the facility so it can cash in on the property.
Lib Dem councillor Janet Grauberg, executive member for resources, said: "This is about getting the best value out of the nearly £3billion of assets which Camden Council owns or manages.
"The value is whether the assets should be kept in current use, whether there is potential for different community use or whether there is value in terms of income from disposal.
"The decision taken on Jamestown was about the best way to provide the services for the people that need them. If and when the decision about what to do with the building comes up we will decide that on merit."
The Labour opposition has accused the council of selling off the family silver to meet the funding gap.
Councillor Julian Fulbrook is to meet the council's head of finance today to discuss the issue.
He said: "If the council puts itself in a straight-jacket by saying it is not going to raise council tax, then says it will spend a lot, it will obviously face huge difficulties."
marc.mullen@hamhigh.co.uk
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