• Bookstore

David Ireland, The Empty Homes Agency Chief Executive, said:
"There are 663,000 wasted empty homes in England.  The government is fixated on just building more homes, but we are convinced that returning more empty homes to use should be part of the solution too. All too often empty homes are overlooked and nobody takes responsibility for getting them into use. We are happy to provide advice to owners, and work with others to seek a solution to empty homes that are reported to us."

The Empty Homes Agency believes that housing supply needs can be partly met by a concerted effort to reduce the numbers of empty homes in England. Among the measures they put forward to bring empty homes back into use are two financial carrot and stick measures:

Reduce VAT of refurbishment of empty homes. This would make it more cost effective for owners of empty homes to bring them back into use.  The Empty Homes Agency suggests reducing the VAT to 5% or less for properties empty for more than a year.

Removing the public subsidy currently offered to owners of empty homes through council tax discounts and exemptions. The Empty Homes Agency advocates replacing the current system with a 50% discount for one year to encourage owners to renovate them, and thereafter charge full council tax

The Good
In some parts of the country a concerted effort is already underway. Empty properties reported by the public are now being brought into use in excellent schemes like these:

The "No Use Empty" initiative led by Kent County Council has in just two years returned 10% of the 3,000 empty homes in East Kent into use. A combination of advice and support for owners of empty homes and funding from the county council is achieving impressive results.

Canopy Housing Project in Leeds is helping homeless young people renovate empty council houses. Working with volunteers the young people learn building skills and then benefit by being offered a tenancy in the completed homes.

A new initiative in Essex "PLACE" provides grants for repairs to run down empty homes to enable them to be used as affordable housing.

The Bad
But it's not all good news, there are still too many examples of forgotten empty homes that could provide housing:

79 houses on the North Circular Road in North London have lain empty since the 1970s. The houses were part of a mass compulsory purchase of more than 400 houses that were acquired by the government 35 years ago to make way for a road widening scheme that never happened. Many of the houses have been vandalised and set on fire. In addition to the empty homes, there are acres of empty land where houses have been demolished.  Responsibility for the houses now lies with Transport for London.

Six large Victorian villas facing Newsham Park in Liverpool were purchased by the city council in 2000 but have been left empty and unmanaged. They have deteriorated to a shocking extent with looting of architectural features and arson. The properties were the subject of PROD (Public Request Order for Disposal) to the then secretary of state Ruth Kelly, who agreed to force the council to sell the properties if they did not deal with them within a year. The year is now up, nothing has happened but the government appear reluctant to act.

A large detached family house and three two-bedroom cottages owned by the NHS adjacent to the Springfield Hospital site in Wandsworth. The houses have been empty for more than 10 years and have deteriorated to a near-derelict state. There are vague plans about a redevelopment on the adjacent golf course that have prevented anybody making use or maintaining the properties.

Local Authority Powers
Nationally, local authorities are able to exercise power given to them under amendments of the Housing Act 1996 that came into force last year. Each authority can now make Compulsory Purchase Orders or take enforcement action with an Empty Dwelling Management Order.