Councils are being urged to bring empty homes back into use, after the biggest annual increase in vacant properties in 17 years. Housing minister Margaret Beckett is telling councils she wants them to take action to compensate for the shortage in new dwellings by ensuring that more empty homes are reoccupied.
A magnet for bad behaviour
"Empty homes blight local neighbourhoods and can potentially attract anti-social behaviour," says Beckett. "That is why councils must do all they can to bring empty homes in their area back into use. I believe that with an increased focus and more consistent approach we can bring more homes back into use. With house building slowing in the current economic climate, that is more important than ever."
Local authorities have been given extra powers to tackle the blight of empty homes. Beckett wants councils to use these by tracking down owners of empty properties, including by placing advertisements in newspapers, visiting their home addresses, or using professional search agencies.
Where this approach is unsuccessful, councils should, says the minister, use Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) on properties. An EDMO enables a council to manage a property to bring it back into use, without taking ownership of the home. The threat of an EDMO can be sufficient to persuade an owner to arrange for a property to be occupied, Beckett suggests.
Residents' petition
Individuals living nearby will be given the right to petition a council to bring an empty property back into use under a Bill currently going through Parliament. Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have also announced proposals in recent weeks to tackle the problem of empty homes.
The minister made her request to councils to act more forcefully when she endorsed guidance published by the charity, the Empty Homes Agency. Policy advisor Henry Oliver says the agency welcomes the minister's support, but believes the Government can take practical action to alleviate the problem.
Cutting VAT on renovation
A cut in VAT on the renovation and repair of empty homes would assist owners to pay to bring them back into use, says Oliver. Approval for the UK Government and other member states to do this has just been agreed by the European Union, but it is not clear if the Government will adopt the measure.
The Empty Homes Agency also wants councils' effectiveness in reducing empty homes to be used as an indicator of local government good performance and as a criterion for grant from government. In addition, councils that use EDMOs should be given an up-front loan from government to cover their initial costs, prior to them earning rent from letting the properties out, says Oliver. He wants finance from the Government's Homes and Communities Agency to housing associations and local authorities to buy unsold new homes to also be made available to purchase empty homes.
Although the Government is claiming a 9% fall in long-term property vacancies, the Empty Homes Agency believes that actually the last year has seen the biggest increase in 17 years.
Rocketing repossessions
Oliver says there are a number of reasons for the increase in empty homes. There are what he terms "rocketing repossessions", with some lenders that have taken possession of homes unwilling to sell them in current market conditions. Some investors, he believes, have bought homes at auction and are waiting for the market to recover before reselling. Other investors and private landlords have mothballed properties because lenders will not provide the finance to bring the homes back into use. In addition, many newly built homes are lying empty because they are unsaleable in the current market conditions and with the drying-up of mortgages.
"You might have thought that when homes aren't selling that the rental market would increase, but it follows the cycle [of the property market]," says Oliver.