Untraceable owners hamper empty building plans

Gateshead Council has been told it can take years to track down the owners of abandoned buildings

Legal delays, untraceable owners and staffing issues are hampering a council's ability to deal with long-term vacant buildings.

Gateshead Council has logged about 1,450 properties but councillors have been told the process of improving them could take more than two years.

Compliance and regulatory service manager, Elaine Rudman, said her team used every power it could to deal with empty sites which cause problems in communities.

"The reality is some of these powers and steps take a long time to resolve and take a long time to see progress being made," she said.

The Labour-led council said it would not name the empty buildings it wished to reopen in order to prevent "urban explorers" from entering them, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council staffing has also proved an issue, with a particular role to deal with long-term vacant properties having been unfilled since April.

However, two new members of staff have been hired to focus on the task and are due to start next month.

Under Section 29 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act, councils can serve notice on a property owner to carry out works in the event of an emergency.

It can also do so under Section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act when the condition of the building is so bad it has become a statutory nuisance.