A home that has been empty for more than 30 years will be brought back into use.

The last time the house was permanently occupied was in 1979 – the year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister and the first nudist beach in the country opened in Brighton.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it could seize control of the family home in Chester Terrace, Brighton, under a compulsory purchase order (CPO) and then sell it on the open market.

Waiting list It comes as more than 12,000 people remain on the local authority’s social housing waiting list.

Liz Wakefield, chairwoman of the council’s housing committee, said: “We have had the CPO approved by the Government but the mortgagee of the property has now undertaken to reoccupy the property in the very near future.

“Our aim is to get the property reoccupied, and the legal advice we have received is that we should give the mortgagee this last chance to do so.

“The CPO remains on the property and we will move on to the next stage of the process if the mortgagee does not fulfil the undertaking that has been made.

“If the CPO process is followed we would add conditions to the sale to ensure that the property is refurbished and reoccupied within a set timescale.

“We are doing everything we can to stand up for the long-suffering neighbours of this property.”

Empty homes

A CPO was obtained for the building in the 1990s but never used.

Officials had to apply to the Government for a fresh CPO for the site.

At last count, there were nearly 1,000 empty properties in the city.

Coun Wakefield said: “None of this should detract from the tremendous success of our empty property team in recent years.

“They have brought 161 homes back into use in the past year alone and more than 1,000 over the past seven years.

“We’re absolutely committed to bringing as many empty homes as possible back into use as quickly as possible.

“The city faces a housing crisis and we must make the best use of all available housing.”