Leeds council may use 'last resort' powers to regenerate decaying estate as final flat owners refuse to sell

The eight medium-rise blocks that make up Kingsdale Court in Seacroft are in a grim state of decay, with the site off Boggart Hill Road having been worn out by years of vandalism, crime and fly-tipping. Leeds City Council has bought up 79 of the 88 flats on the estate and purchased the land around the blocks from private ownership over the past two years, as part of their plans to regenerate the area. But a council report notes that despite negotiations, the authority has been unable to buy out the nine remaining residential properties.

Now the local authority is considering using compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), which would force the flats into public ownership. 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. The orders can only be used if there is a clear public interest.

The report said this may be the only way forward if talks fail with the owners of the remaining flats, which were put up in the 1960s and 70s. It said: “Whilst active and positive progress is being made in negotiations to acquire further (properties), there are likely to be some remaining flats that cannot be secured through negotiation, at least on the open market terms currently being offered.

“Whilst continued efforts will be made to acquire remaining (properties) through negotiation, it is likely that a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) – or at least a formal resolution and making of a CPO – will be required to offer the council a means of last resort to complete assembly of the site and to focus further negotiations.”

The council has blamed the decline of Kingsdale Court on years of poor private management. It says several tiers of ownership across the site meant responsibilities were “fragmented” and contributed to its dire state.

Of the eight blocks on the site, Farnley House and Gilstead House are said to be in the worst condition. Both were temporarily shut down for safety reasons in 2019, two years before the council started started buying up flats on the estate. The report said that within both blocks “most windows above ground floor are damaged, communal entrance doors are broken, the layout and design of the site has led to significant damage and fly-tipping across the communal grassed areas, boilers and metal pipework are continuously stolen for sale, electric meter cupboards are regularly vandalised.”

Residents whose flats have already been been purchased by the council have been rehoused elsewhere.