Why has golden council flat not been lived in for six years?
Our Wasted London series finds unused homes all over the borough
Friday, 23rd October — By Caitlin Maskell
The flat in Spedan Close, Hampstead
A COUNCIL flat on one of Hampstead’s most desirable estates has been left empty for six years – despite appearing ready for a new tenant to move in.
The four-bed property in Spedan Close, on the Grade II-listed Branch Hill Estate, is one of 41 flats on the estate. Its prolonged vacancy has prompted residents and councillors to demand action and answers from the council.
Peering through the windows, the flat appears to have been renovated by the council at an alleged cost of £75,000 after a flood. The repairs included new flooring, roof repairs and rewiring. It has been cleared of furniture, apart from an Aga – a type of Swedish cast iron cooker and a piano – which remains inside.
The New Journal visited the property this week with Frognal ward councillor Steve Adams, the leader of the Camden Conservatives.
He said: “Camden are not very good at looking after things that aren’t just bog standard. It’s the oddies – it’s not the bigger estates, it’s these smaller places which they find it much harder to get up to standard.”
He added: “There is a certain age of modern that is quite expensive to maintain. The estate is so desirable and this flat is standing empty. Camden’s response has not been good enough.”
The estate was built between 1974 and 1976 and was designed by Gordon Benson and Alan Forsyth under borough architect Sydney Cook. It became famous at the time as the most expensive council housing of its era.
Conservative group leader Councillor Steve Adams
Cllr Adams added: “I think there needs to be far more awareness. If they don’t know where their properties are empty and or they don’t know who is living in their properties an audit of the properties is meant to be done, whether it’s done well enough I don’t know.
“Camden is not entirely aware of who is living in its properties – whether that is void properties or just social homes. It’s all tied in with this slight laissez faire attitude towards what Camden owns.
“I’d be tempted to say we need fewer but better housing officers, who are committed to the problem.
“The current situation is that we have Angela Rayner suggesting that private properties that are left for a period of time empty should be confiscated. If they can’t do it with their own ones what hope have they got with private ones?”
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “In this [Spedan Close] case, the current tenant moved to alternative accommodation so that extensive repair and refurbishment works could be completed to address significant disrepair throughout this property.
“We understand the concerns about how long has since remained unoccupied however, the tenancy remains in place and resolving cases of this nature can take time. We are now taking the necessary steps to review this and bring the property back into occupation as quickly as possible.
“More broadly, we are continuing to strengthen our approach to managing empty homes, including through a dedicated voids team, improved data collection and additional capacity to help bring unoccupied homes back into use more quickly.”
