An elderly couple have been left horrified after receiving a council letter trying to force them out of their £200,000 home in order to accommodate asylum seekers.
Jose, 76, and Ted Saunders, 78, moved into their property recently, just before a compulsory purchase letter came through the letter box.
The couple said they were “insulted and shocked” by the letter penned by North Northamptonshire Council.
It labelled the mid-terraced Rushden home empty or “derelict”.
An elderly couple were handed a compulsory purchase letter
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Jose, a retired carer, told the Daily Mail: “The idea of forcing us to sell it to make room for refugees and asylum seekers seems totally wrong.”
She added: “What on earth is the council doing forcing people to sell their houses – and even an empty house is owned by someone – so that asylum seekers can live in them?”
The letter sent to the Saunders, which was headed “Empty properties and sites initiative”, said: “We are writing as we have reason to believe that the above-named premises… is empty or unused.
“The Government has identified empty privately-owned properties as a potential cause of blight within communities, and as a wasted resource at time of high housing need.”
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North Northamptonshire Council sent the letter to the elderly couple
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North Northamptonshire Council has come under fire since its creation in 2021 for never managing to balance its budget.
The couple responded by calling the council and asking what was going on.
They received an apology three days later, saying staff mistook the property for possible compulsory purchase.
Rushden, which comes under the Wellingborough constituency, will vote tomorrow for a new MP following Peter Bone’s ousting by recall petition.
Ben Habib pounced on the situation while campaigning in the Wellingborough by-election
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Reform UK candidate Ben Habib pounced on the situation, claiming: “I was horrified to hear the plight of Mr and Mrs Saunders, but my horror could not compare to what they experienced last month.”
He added: “The accusation made was their home was derelict and the Council intended to use it to house single young men seeking asylum. Known to the rest of us as illegal migrants.”
Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said in a statement: “North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) is working with owners of long-term empty properties to bring their property back into use.
“Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) are not utilised to ‘oust’ current owners from their properties, they are a tool used as a very last resort to bring empty properties, which are a valuable and much need housing resource, back into use.”
He added: “Unfortunately, in this case, records held by NNC were outdated, and the letter was incorrectly sent to a property which was occupied. For this I am very sorry for causing any undue distress and worry.”