Last few owners on Leeds estate could be forced to sell

A report said compulsory purchase orders may be required as a "last resort" if further negotiations to buy the remaining properties failed

Local housing chiefs are considering using special powers to force the last remaining residents on a rundown estate in Leeds to sell their flats.

Over the past two years, the city council has bought 79 of the 88 flats on Kingsdale Court in Seacroft as part of efforts to regenerate the area.

But despite negotiations, the authority has been unable to buy out the nine remaining properties.

The authority is considering imposing compulsory purchase orders (CPOs).

The council has blamed the decline of the estate on years of poor "fragmented" private management.

According to a report, two of the blocks on the estate, which was built in the 1960s and 70s, were temporarily shut down for safety reasons in 2019 - two years before the council started buying up flats on the estate.

Both blocks had suffered "significant damage", with broken windows, fly-tipping and boilers and pipework being stolen to sell.

Electric meter cupboards were regularly vandalised, the report said.

Residents whose flats have already been been purchased by the council have been rehoused elsewhere, but the report said CPOs may be required as a "last resort" if further negotiations failed.

CPOs are typically only used by councils in rare circumstances, such as where public safety is at risk or an empty building has been left neglected for years, and the orders can only be used if there is a clear public interest.

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