Call for action on empty homes

The Empty Homes Agency (EHA) is calling for effective action on empty homes to be at the heart of government plans to reward local authorities for increases in housing supply.

Following a government consultation on the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant – which proposes to offer extra funds to local authorities with a clear strategy for improving housing supply – the EHA welcomes the recognition of the role action to fill empty homes can play in housing supply.

However, questions remain over whether the government’s proposed approach will deliver results in practice.

"We are pleased the government says it wants to support councils bring empty properties back into housing use," said Henry Oliver, the EHA’s policy advisor.

"But at the same time the government is about to abolish BVPI 64 - the indicator that has driven much local authority action on empty homes in recent years.

"Empty property officers nationwide are worried that the result could actually be fewer resources and less action on empty homes."

According to Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) statistics some 675,000 homes are sitting empty in the UK – 288,000 have been empty for six months or more.

In response to the problem the EHA proposes the government adopts the following proposals:

• Count empty homes brought back into use as part of a council’s housing supply.
• Encourage councils to act on empty homes by offering a premium level of grant for long-term empty homes brought back into use over new-build.
• Include long-term empty homes brought back into use in the definition of the new National Indicator 154 on housing supply.
• Amend PPS3 Housing to give more encouragement to local authorities to take account of ‘windfalls’ (sites that come forward which are not identified in plans.

"Just having an empty property strategy on its own is no guarantee of effective action to tackle the scandal of empty homes.

"We need to design the grant to encourage councils to make the effort to tackle empty property. We need to give them clear guidance on what an effective strategy means.

"And above all we need to count empty homes brought back into use as a crucial part of housing supply," concluded Mr Oliver.