A PAIR of derelict houses in Darwen that had been empty for three decades will be renovated after being bought by the council.

Numbers 16 and 17 Green Street East had caused concern for residents and councillors after becoming eyesores.

The homes are just minutes from the town centre and had blighted the St Peter’s conservation area for years.

Now Blackburn with Darwen Council has bought the properties and is in the process of selling them on to Twin Valley Homes – the council’s preferred social housing provider – to be brought back into use.

The purchase forms part of the council’s campaign to bring empty properties back into occupation.

Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith said he was delighted.

He said: “They will now be done up by Twin Valley Homes, I think in the summer, and then they will either rent them out or sell them.

“They were the last two derelict homes around there so it will complete that area.

“They are the last of the eyesores so it is really good news.”

Coun Smith said the issue had been ongoing for a number of years.

He said: “This has been an issue ever since I got involved in local politics, and that was in 1986.

“I would say these houses have been empty for at least 30 years.”

As reported in the Lancashire Telegraph, the council had tried to take over the houses before, with a previous attempt in 2010 falling through at the last minute.

The rest of the street had already benefited from renovation through the Housing Market Renewal fund, a Government scheme to renew failing or weak housing markets in areas of low demand.