Following complaints some time ago from residents about the poor condition of a private property in Fourth Street I asked the Neighbourhood Wardens and the private-sector office at county hall to contact the landlord with a request that the property be brought back to a decent standard.
Earlier this month I received an update confirming that the property owner was proving reluctant to engage with the council in its attempts to hold him accountable for the condition of his property, despite the guttering hanging dangerously low towards the street as shown in the image above.
As regular readers of these pages will know this is a common reaction from absent landlords who know only too well that the council has only strictly limited powers to compel them to take responsibility for the condition of their properties (please see posts dated Thursday 25 June 2020 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/housing-issues-in-blackhall-colliery.html, Monday 15 June 2020 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/community-action-team-and-private.html and Friday 17 May 2019 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2019/05/selective-licensing-scheme-update.html for more details about private sector housing issues).
This is the latest response received from private sector officers at Durham County Council regarding the property on Fourth Street:
Good evening Cllr Crute,
Unfortunately there has been no engagement with our team from the owner, following my initial letter.
Any immediate concerns such as flytipping/waste, open to access and dangerous/falling elements, will be referred to the relevant department. Either from my review visits or whenever new reports come in.
I will be writing to the owner again, giving them a final 14 days to respond. The case will remain open as a high priority and further actions reviewed should there continue to be a lack of engagement complaints.
I’ve contacted the private-sector office again this morning for an update on this particular property in Fourth Street and I’ll report on progress as soon as I have more information. `
There are a few similar private sector housing cases in the system at the moment and I’m continuing to press the council to use whichever powers it has at its disposal to contact landlords/owners to address local concerns and bring these complaints to a satisfactory conclusion.
