Colmer queries empty homes scandal (South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats)

South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats <info@swwiltshirelibdems.org.uk>

Colmer queries empty homes scandal

November 8, 2010 8:22 AM

As housing waiting lists soar, questioning by Cllr Peter Colmer has revealed that there are 1644 long-term empty homes in Wiltshire.

The data comes in response to a question put by Cllr Colmer to the Wiltshire councillor responsible for housing, John Brady.

The question was, "The proposed Localism Bill proposes bringing more empty homes back into use. How effective has the Empty Homes Scheme been in meeting this aspiration?"

In response Cllr Brady admitted that empty properties represent an unacceptable waste of resources at a time when demand for affordable housing is high. Council tax records from April 2010 show that Wiltshire has a minimum of 1644 homes that have been empty for more than six months.

"Bringing empty properties back into use will increase the amount of housing available and thus reduce the number of individuals in housing need. The advantages of bringing these properties back into use include an increase in housing supply, a potential financial saving as it is often more cost effective to renovate an existing property than to build a new one, and an improvement to the environment of the area, including saving the resources required to build a new property. There are also benefits for the owner of the property as it can provide an income either through rent or sale," said Cllr Brady.

He went on to explain that the Council has a target to bring back into use 50 long-term empty homes (those empty for more than 6 months) by 2014.

That works out at about a dozen per year.

Recruitment of a full time empty homes manager has been put on hold due to the current management restructures. However the council has been able to send letters to nearly all landlords / owners who have an empty home encouraging them to bring it back into use.