Stranded in a ‘ghost town’

STUCK . . . Maureen Walsh is one of the few remaining residents in London Road, Derker

HMR cuts leave couple in limbo

A DERKER couple say their lives have been ruined after cuts to the Housing Market Renewal budget left their dreams in tatters.

Maureen and Terry Walsh, of London Road, have been opposed to the HMR programme to demolish or renovate houses in Derker and Werneth since plans were announced in 2004, as they wanted to stay in the home they have lived in for 46 years.

But the couple, who are both in their 70s, decided to accept an offer made to their surveyor by the District Valuer in November and had their offer on a house in near-by Westminster Street accepted.

They forked out £300 for a surveyor and £300 for a solicitor as they started the moving process and were looking forward to finally feeling settled after six years of uncertainty.

But earlier this month, the couple received a letter from the council’s housing implementation department telling them that the purchase of their home would not be going ahead due to £2 million cuts to Oldham’s HMR programme.

Maureen said: “We are now in limbo and really don’t know what to do next. Terry is not well and the stress of all this is not helping him at all.

“We never wanted to leave our home but when we saw the house in Westminster Street we decided to bite the bullet and we were looking forward to getting settled before our golden wedding anniversary next year.

“We’ve paid out £600 that we’re not going to get back and we’re stuck in London Road now. There’s no way we can sell the house on the open market as this part of Derker looks like a ghost town with some houses knocked down and others boarded up.

“The woman who we were buying the house from has also been messed around. She was planning to move to Norwich and had already started applying for jobs as she thought, like we did, that the sale was going to go through without any problems.

“The whole HMR process has been a shambles from the start and I’m tired of fighting now. This latest mess has left our heads in a complete whirl and totally ruined our lives.”

Councillor John McCann, Cabinet member for regeneration, said: “The cut in the budget for HMR this year has had an impact on how much of the programme we can deliver.

“As a result, at this time we can’t offer to buy any more homes, other than those that are already progressing through the legal process.

“The District Valuer and Mr and Mrs Walsh’s surveyor have now agreed a valuation for the property, but Oldham Council has not yet made an offer.

“Prior to this week, we have had no contact with the couple since August and were not aware of any expenses that may have been incurred.

“The delays in the CPO process have meant that we have not been able to progress the redevelopment in Derker as rapidly as we would have liked. It is not possible to acquire the remaining homes until more funding is available and we won’t have a decision on that until April next year.

“If funding is made available we do still wish to proceed with the purchase of this and the remaining properties in Derker, subject to priorities.”