This item was originally published on this site

 

The number of empty homes is up for a third consecutive year – and it’s the second year in a row to see a 10,000 home rise.

With numbers as they are, the National Coalition for Community Investment (NCCI), led by Action on Empty Homes (AEH), wants election commitments that make vacant properties a housing option.

‘As Britain decides its future in the current General Election we once again see housing as a top issue amongst voters concerns, yet every Government housing statistic is going the wrong way,” said Director of Action on Empty Homes, Will McMahon.

“To see empty homes numbers shoot up for a third year alongside rising homelessness is simply unacceptable – our housing market is not delivering the housing we need,” McMahon said.

“This is why we want to see hundreds of thousands of wasted empty homes brought into use for those in housing need.

At a time of national housing crisis we cannot afford to see 226,000 homes stand empty across the country because of the lack of a government strategy to support councils to bring them back into use,” he said.

Latest MHCLG stats show that nationally 85,000 families, including 126,000 children, endure unsuitable and over-crowded temporary accommodation – with cost estimates at around £1bn.

The election pledge call is backed by Nationwide Building Society, which has launched a campaign to lobby MPs on the issue alongside the NCCI/AEH effort.

Collectively, the initiative calls for:

  • New powers to allow local councils to bring empty homes back into use.
  • A national fund to support councils in bringing tens of thousands of long-term empty homes back into use through a locally focussed programme of grants and loans.
  • Measures ensuring owners take advantage of this programme, agreeing nomination rights and fair rents with councils, so that homes brought into use can help alleviate local housing need
  • A fund for local authorities to help capacity-build local community-led housing projects which sustainably refurbish long-term empty homes and buildings

The stats show Inner London – where debate has centred on the ‘buy to leave’ scandal and ‘homebanking’ by developers unwilling to sell completed new homes  – saw a rise of 11%; while outer London saw a rise of 9%.

Across London overall nearly 25,000 homes are said to lie long-term empty – while London councils spend some £600m a year on temporary accommodation

Areas in the North, where communities are blighted by under-investment also see figures remain stubbornly high.

Bradford has more than 4,000 plus long term empty homes (or nearly 1 in 50), while Hartlepool is up 7% to around 800 long term empty homes.

Middlesbrough sees a 14% plus rise to 1,163 long term empty homes; and Grimsby and North East Lincs have 1,511 long term empty homes – again around one in every 50.