MP asks social housing provider to sell empty Edlington homes to private landlords

The CEO of St Leger Homes, which manages all social housing in the borough, responded on Wednesday (11 October) after Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher shared a letter he had written to the company.

In the letter addressed to Doncaster Council CEO Damian Allen and St Leger Homes CEO Dave Richmond, he claimed that the number of empty social houses in the area is a “disgrace”.

Nick Fletcher MP wrote: “On Princes Crescent in Edlington there are four bungalows near the junction with Main Avenue. One is occupied and the other three are boarded up. Those at the [local landlords’] meeting were told that the boarded-up properties are in good order internally but empty because nobody wants to live there.

“This was met with amazement by private landlords present at the meeting who said they could let these properties within a month and quite possibly within a week. Bungalows are much sought after.

“There is a housing shortage in the borough. The waiting list is now over seven thousand strong. Many people have been waiting years.

“If the council cannot let these properties, then can they sell them off so they can be occupied? It is a disgrace that these properties remain unoccupied. Their occupation will also help boost the return to normality on this road in particular.

“I would like to know how many empty properties there are in the borough and how many of those are owned by CDC/St Leger Homes.”

Mr Richmond responded to Mr Fletcher’s letter privately.

He shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there are 74 empty social housing properties across the borough out of a total of 19,980.

The figure places St Leger Homes’ performance among the highest in the country.

He attributed the rise in demand of social housing to private rent increasing by an average 10 per cent a year while housing benefit has been frozen since 2020.

Social housing rent in Doncaster averages £81 a week, the ninth lowest in England and Wales.

Chief executive of St Leger Homes, Dave Richmond, said: “At St Leger Homes we want to make sure that as many of our properties as possible are occupied. Indeed, Mayor Ros Jones has made this issue one of eighteen Key Performance Indicators that St Leger is judged by.

“Whilst there are many homes not occupied in Doncaster, the vast majority of these are in private ownership and not the responsibility of Doncaster Council or St Leger Homes.

“Given that once a tenant leaves a property, St Leger Homes undertake improvement and repair works a void period is inevitable.

“So it’s unfortunate to conflate three void properties in Edlington managed by St Leger Homes with a much wider private sector issue.

“In respect of the three bungalows, St Leger is developing plans for major refurbishment. This work is taking place at the same time as the council and other partners are working hard to tackle wider issues in the local community.

“It is helpful that Mr Fletcher highlights the number of people in Doncaster hoping to access a council house. St Leger Homes and the City of Doncaster Council are experiencing unprecedented demand for council housing. This is in part driven by the cost of living crisis and the comparatively higher cost of private rented properties.

“There are more privately rented properties in Doncaster than there are council housing homes. Unfortunately for many people, renting privately is unaffordable. Indeed, records from the Department of Work and Pensions show that in Doncaster in more than 65 per cent of cases benefits paid do not cover the full rent of the privately rented property.”

Mr Fletcher shared his comments in a wider post about Edlington, an area which is ranked the most dangerous in South Yorkshire in terms of crime statistics.

Last year, he shared a seven-point plan for the area, which included plans to “lock up the criminals” and “work with tenants and landlords”.

He claimed that the area has suffered due to “decades of neglect” from the council.

Earlier this year, the council lost its bid to regenerate the town’s centre through the government’s Levelling Up fund.