In London the government has desperately trying to find ways to increase the amount of housing in order to keep up with demand, however in the north of the country there are so many uninhabited houses that whole areas are now practically ghost towns. The Daily Mail reported yesterday that a town called Wooknock in the Accrington area of Lancashire currently has rows upon rows of houses that are unoccupied and run down, whereas one hundred years ago the town would have had a large community made up of factory workers and their families.
Woodnock was supposed to be revamped under the Pathfinder Housing Market Renewal Scheme, however when the coalition government came into power in 2010 the scheme was dropped. By this time almost seventy five per cent of those living in the area had moved out, and so the remaining twenty five also left as soon as they realised the town would not improve.
Hyndburn Council deputy leader Clare Pritchard has said on the Woodnock area “The problem here is not housing, it’s that we have the wrong king of housing. We found that there’s no call for ‘two up, two down’ housing anymore. We’re an old mill town and many of these homes were built before 1900, they’re not energy efficient and it’s too cramped for a family living there. When the Government dropped the HMR scheme the area had around 25 per cent occupancy, we were unable to buy the remaining residents out and they were unable to sell because who would want to buy a house in an empty area.”
It is clear to see why landlords have moved away from the area as well, as without landlords insurance the abandoned houses would become a drain on funds. However, one company has decided to invest in the properties – Place First. This company is planning on investing ten million pounds in to the area and renovating the houses so that they become larger and more desirable to future tenants.