Houses ' left to rot' are given away

LISTED buildings "left to rot" for 19 years by a London council are being given away.

Labour-controlled Islington council has decided to hand over the four Georgian terraced houses in Cross Street, Islington, to a housing association at "nil value".

The decision follows a warning that the houses were in such a bad state now they were in danger of falling down unless urgent work was carried out. The houses were bought by Islington council when under Labour control in 1980 for a total of GBP 45,000. Over the past 19 years plans to renovate them for council tenants or sell them to private buyers have come to nothing. Estate agents estimate that in good order the houses would sell for around GBP 600,000 each on the open market.

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