AROUND 350 derelict houses languishing on the A406 could be transformed if a bid by Enfield Council to buy them is successful.

The council is bidding for £80million to purchase the run-down properties from Transport for London (TfL). If it succeeds, it will sell them to to a housing association, who will renovate and run them.

The move would mean an end to 45 years of uncertainty for residents whose homes were left rotting while the authorities debated a range of plans for the area, from a motorway in the 1960s to full-scale demolition.

But the council admitted there is still no “formal decision” to buy the houses if the money doesn’t come through.

Councillor Matthew Laban, cabinet member for housing, said: “It all depends upon whether the council is successful. The money for this is completely essential — without it, it will be very hard for us to proceed. There are reasons to be optimistic. Everyone should keep their fingers crossed.”

Campaigner Ernie Chinnick, 67, remained sceptical. He said: “I’ve seen it all before. They say there is no more money or the money has gone somewhere else.”

Fellow campaigner John Waller said he wants “the council, TfL and the MPs involved” reported to the the national standards board and Audit Commission for years of inaction over the site.

During a meeting of the housing scrutiny panel on December 10, the council made several promises to the residents living along the blighted A406 stretch.

Enfield Homes, the body which manages council housing, is to inspect all the properties it manages to assess their condition and will submit a report. Councillors Tony Dey and Yasemin Brett, who sit on the panel, also pledged to inspect tenants’ homes independently at the invitation of tenants as a back-up.

TfL committed to providing the scrutiny panel with details of the condition of the 145 properties it manages directly.

The outcome of the bid, made to the Greater London Authority, will be known in April 2009.

Chairman of the housing scrutiny panel, Councillor Achilleas Georgiou, said: “People might want to buy their homes and not see them go to a housing association. I see no reason why they can’t, we just need to find a way of making it happen. We need to make sure we have listened to people.”

More consultations will be held next year and a housing officer will be employed to liaise with A406 tenants. TfL says it wants the council to “achieve its aspirations while achieving value for money for TfL”.

Enfield’s London Assembly member Joanne McCartney and the council have both asked Mayor of London Boris Johnson not to simply sell the properties off to the highest bidder.