Rundown eyesore houses that have stood empty for years are to be compulsorily purchased by council bosses.
Leicester City Council intends to buy four premises, which have been vacant for between two and 14 years, and bring them back into use.
The estimated value of the four homes is about £415,000.
The council aims to recover its costs by selling the properties to new owners who must agree to bring the properties back into use within an agreed timescale.
Any losses will be covered by a budget set aside as part of the council's empty homes strategy.
The properties are 32 Gopsall Street, in Spinney Hills, 1a Oban Street, in Newfoundpool, 52a and 52b Knighton Drive, in Knighton, and 82 Ocean Road, in Thurncourt.
The move follow numerous attempts by the city council's empty homes team to contact the owners of the properties and encourage them to make improvements, and let or sell them if they are likely to remain unoccupied. Assistant city mayor for housing, councillor Andy Connelly, said: "We will only consider compulsory purchase orders as a last resort and this action follows a lot of complaints from neighbours.
"People do not want to live next door to empty properties.
"If left unoccupied, properties can quickly fall into disrepair or attract crime, which can affect neighbours' house prices.
"It is important that we are able to take action to bring empty houses like these back into use.
"It can help provide much-needed family accommodation and stop empty properties becoming an eyesore in their neighbourhoods."
The Gopsall Street home has stood empty for 14 years and a number of complaints have been received about the negative impact the property is having on neighbouring properties.
The city council has served legal notices on two occasions to force the owners to repair a broken, leaky drainpipe and to remove overgrown shrubbery.
The former corner shop in Oban Street has been empty since 2009 and has been boarded up for at least three years. It previously received planning approval to convert the shop unit into a flat.
Complaints have been received from neighbours. The city council and Severn Trent Water have had to take action, in the owner's absence, to fix water leaks at the property which damaged neighbouring homes.
The pigeon-infested property in Knighton Drive has been the subject of complaints from residents. It has lost a portion of its roof and neighbours have also previously complained about the unsightly collection of construction waste including broken slabs, pipes, pallets and window frames, which the council has taken action to remove.
The council says, despite correspondence with the owner, there has been no sign of progress on the site and the property stands empty and unimproved.
The property in Ocean Road has also caused numerous complaints from residents.and the city council has served a notice for overgrown gardens littered with rubbish to be cleared.
The building is boarded-up and covered in graffiti.
The compulsory purchase orders are part of a wider empty homes strategy which has seen the council bring 344 empty properties back into use in the last 15 months.
Officers concentrate on properties that have been unoccupied for over 18 months, and the council says compulsory purchase orders are only used as a last resort.
Martin Bromley, city council housing renewal and grants manager, said: "We will continue our attempts to make contact with the owners and work with them to bring these properties back into use."
