Councils highlight successes to mark Empty Homes Week

National Empty Homes Week runs from 4-10 March this year. The event highlights councils’ efforts to bring empty properties back into use.

Local authorities across the country use the week to showcase successes, while emphasising ongoing work with residents and property owners.

For example, Bedford Borough Council has marked 10 years of its Accelerated Empty Homes Programme, which has seen the number of homes lying empty in the borough for more than five years decrease by 17.5 per cent.

Bedford’s Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Regulatory Services and Housing, Cllr Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant, said: “This shows the work the council has done has had a significant impact in bringing empty properties back into use and that dwellings which may previously have been unsightly or attracted anti-social behaviour are available for people to live in.”

In Devon, Torbay Council has carried out a survey that found 81 per cent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the council should use enforcement to bring empty homes back into use.

Torbay Council Leader Cllr David Thomas said: “We welcome the new 200 per cent Council Tax charge on houses that have been empty for more than a year. This financial penalty should encourage more people to make sure they don’t leave properties empty for longer than necessary.”

Rotherham Council has meanwhile announced its temporary empty homes officer role will become permanent.

Council Leader Cllr Chris Read added: “We’re urging anyone who is struggling to bring residential empty properties back into to use to contact us, likewise if you know of an empty property and would like to see it become a home again.”

Recent research by Action on Empty Homes suggests that, between 2022-2023, the number of homes in England that have been empty for more than six months rose by 5 per cent to 261,189.