Issue - meetings

Report CS18050

The Committee considered a report seeking approval to change the grant conditions linked to the funding of empty property work with a view to improving uptake by property owners.

Two externally-funded Empty Property Officers were employed by the Local Authority to provide advice, general support and financial assistance to owners of long term empty property to support them in bringing their property back into use for social housing.  Since the introduction of the scheme in 2008, 64 properties had been brought back into use across the Borough with an average grant award of £9,800; however the uptake of grants through the scheme had fallen significantly over the past three years as a result of the differing rent levels for social and privately rented accommodation, as well as the long nomination period required for social housing.  There were currently approximately 750 properties across the Borough that had been empty for at least six months.  This impacted on the delivery of the Local Authority’s statutory duty to house vulnerable families and individuals identified as being homeless, as well as the level of New Homes Bonus received by the Local Authority.  To support the continued reduction in long term empty properties and maximise the availability of housing to social housing tenants, it was proposed to increase the maximum Empty Homes Property Grant available to owners, reduce the required nomination period to three years and introduce a ‘buy-out’ option where owners no longer wishing to house tenants nominated by the Local Authority could repay grant funding.

A Member noted that the funding criteria had been changed to allow funding for empty properties that had only been empty for one month and suggested that this seemed to be a very short period of time, especially when issues such as the settlement of estates were considered.  The Director of Housing explained that the purpose of this was to attract more landlords and that it would allow earlier approaches to the owners of empty properties.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Care Services be recommended to:

1)  Increase the maximum Empty Homes Property Grant available to owners as set out in Paragraph 5.2 to Report CS18050;

2)  Reduce the current required nomination period from five years to three years, and allow additional grant to be offered linked to additional years of nomination rights as detailed in Paragraph 5.3 to Report CS18050; and,

3)  Where grant conditions are breached and the owner no longer wishes to house tenants nominated by the Local Authority, that the amount of grant to be repaid be reduced pro rata by each full year that has elapsed since completion of the work.