Scotland should learn from English city that sells houses for £1 – Bill Jamieson

A housing crisis, homelessness a continuing challenge, and a shortage of affordable homes – so how about selling off abandoned properties for £1?

Inverclyde has some beautiful scenery so homes for £1 would sell well (Picture: John Devlin)

This is what Liverpool City Council started doing some six years ago. It made available dilapidated property in an unloved street for just £1. A policy of desperation, you might think. But the offer was eagerly snapped up, many houses were repaired and transformed beyond recognition. And it could well be an example that challenged areas such as Inverclyde could follow.

A university student who bought a derelict house for a £1 managed to transform the property into a dream home worth £70,000 in under two years. Victoria Brennan won a bid, along with a cohort of four other families, to buy the crumbling Victorian terrace, on the condition she pledged to repair the property and stay there for five years.

The boarded-up homes would have defied all but the intrepid. They were offered with no plumbing, electricity, fixtures or fittings. A Channel 4 documentary revealed how those brave enough to persevere pulled off a remarkable – and inspiring – transformation. Local property manager Oliver Scott said one of the homes could already fetch around £70,000 if it was allowed to be put on the market. As well as restoring abandoned properties to a modern and comfortable state, it enabled families who could not otherwise afford a home to get on the housing ladder. The scheme aimed to bring around 6,000 abandoned houses back into use. So far, 120 properties have been renovated and filled – testimony to the positive vigour and energy that can be unleashed when people are given a sense of ownership and the opportunity to create their own home. This was a bold and unique experiment – and one that councils in Scotland would do well to consider.