Abandoned home on Van St. in London. Abandoned home on Van St. in London.
London

City Cracking Down On Vacant Buildings

City officials are targeting abandoned and dilapidated buildings across London.

Since October, a team of fire, police and bylaw enforcement officers have identified 92 buildings. Of the 92, 57 have been inspected, 15 boarded up and nine have been demolished.

The cost of the boards and demolition are billed to the property owner.

The run down buildings are often the subject of many complaints from neighbours who have to deal with declining property values, animals and squatters.

"When a building is left abandoned, obviously if there's nobody there immediately taking care of it, it can be an attractive property for those looking for a place to stay or people looking to have fun in a spot that there's no control over," says London Police Sergeant Tyler Cowan.

Fire officials say often when crews are called to sites they find dirty syringes and drug paraphernalia.

Daniel Mortimer lives on Van St. next to a home that was left vacant after the owner died in a fire.

"I have called the city several times for people squatting and ripping the boards off the sides," Mortimer tells BlackburnNews.com. "There's a family of raccoons that also likes to get into everyone's garbage. It's just an eyesore and it's not good for any neighbourhood."

You can now report a vacant building in your area by emailing vacantbuilding@london.ca.

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