Bradford Council has “absolutely no confidence” that a property developer can bring a derelict Victorian terrace back into use for housing, a public inquiry has heard.

Businessman Liaquat Ali, who owns 56 properties across the district, does not have the “organisational skills” needed to renovate Emmfield Villas, in Emm Lane, Heaton, an environmental health officer told the public inquiry at City Hall yesterday.

The now-dilapidated homes have become a blight on the Heaton conservation area and a focus for criminal damage, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour since they became empty 13 years ago.

The Government will decide on evidence from yesterday’s public inquiry whether the Council should be allowed to make a rarely-used Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for it to buy for £200,000 the three five-bedroom homes – converted into flats – and sell them on for re-development.

That would be the last resort after pleas to renovate the homes were repeatedly ignored by owner Mr Ali, of Bradford-based development company Purefleet Ltd.

Bradford Council senior environmental health officer Lorna Frost told the inquiry: “We have absolutely no confidence at all that Mr Ali has the organisational skills to execute this task. My colleagues and I are continually dealing with Mr Ali’s properties and it is very, very rare that we get a positive result.”

Emmfield Villas, which was converted into flats before becoming derelict, was named third on a list of about 400 private properties in Bradford on its “at risk” register. Its windows have been smashed, metal water pipes stolen and doors ripped off.

The homes have loose roof tiles, rotting floor boards and a “serious pigeon infestation”, said Mrs Frost. Campaigners in the Heaton Township Association have sent a 160-name petition to the Council for something to be done about the building.

Mr Ali has agreed with the Council to sell the homes in the past. However, Mrs Frost said: “He rarely markets them but says he has a friend or relative who wants to buy them. He also says he wants ‘cash only and no solicitors’, so he’s not really trying to dispose of them.

“He does sometimes do work on his properties but, because he does not dispose of them very effectively, they often get into a bad condition again.”

Mr Ali, who did not attend the public inquiry and was not legally represented, has lodged a formal objection against the bid for a CPO.

In a letter to the hearing, his solicitors claimed the order was “premature and unnecessary”.

Planning permission was granted in 2008 to change the homes from flats to three large houses but only initial investigation work has been carried out.

However, Mr Ali’s solicitors say the Council should wait until the three-year planning permission expires in November. They also claim the Council has not followed the correct procedures and that the CPO would breach Mr Ali’s human rights. The Council denies all the claims.

Solicitor Richard Winter, for the Council, said a covenant would be attached to any CPO laying out strict time limits for developers to finish any renovation work.

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