Ministers launch £1m empty homes crack down

The money will renovate derelict houses to be rented out as social homes, and attract private funding to enable local people to buy and refurbish the homes.

The announcement is part of measures to tackle anti-social behaviour announced in November. The drive will equip up to 10,000 frontline workers and community champions, including 1,000 local tenants, with the skills to use tough powers to solve problems in their area.

Housing minister John Healey said: ‘Empty houses are both a blight on communities and a waste of much needed homes. Councils already have strong legal powers to force the owners of empty properties to act and if necessary take over homes, but these powers are often neither used or understood properly.

‘I want councils using every tool available so that people can see action being taken against anti-social behaviour in their area. That’s why I’m backing 17 councils in areas where empty homes have been a magnet for vandalism, threatening behaviour or other types of anti-social activities. They will get training for frontline workers and tenants so they understand how they can use their legal powers. And they will get the cash they need to renovate and re-let empty homes back, reviving run-down areas of their communities.’

Home Office minister David Hanson said: ‘Tackling anti-social behaviour is not just about using tough tools and powers to prevent people intimidating their neighbours and running down their communities. It is also about creating safe and confident communities where there is no room for this type of behaviour. We know derelict homes can often be a catalyst for crime and anti-social behaviour – this extra funding will help address that problem, making a real and visible difference to these communities.’

The 17 local authority areas that will receive funding are: Torbay, St Helens, Ipswich , Mansfield and Bolsover, Luton , Bolton, Liverpool, Stoke, Doncaster, Corby, East Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Durham, Cornwall, and Warwick.

Liverpool, Stoke, Bolton and Doncaster, which have more than 3,000 empty homes, get £84,000 each. The remaining councils will each receive £53,000 with the exception of Corby, East Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire which have been grouped together as they have proposed one officer to work across the authorities. The Homes and Communities Agency Academy will receive £80,000 to work with these local authorities and develop ideas which can be tested in one location and rolled out more widely.

The Empty Homes Agency and the Chartered Institute of Housing will work with the Homes and Communities Agency Academy on a programme of targeted consultancy to help develop skills and expertise in the 17 local authorities. The 17 authorities are in the 60 local authorities with the highest level of empty homes, were found to need improvement by the Audit Commission’s comprehensive area assessment, and were willing to take action and match the government funds with their own resources.

Meanwhile, Mr Healey has told Parliament the names of the 20 authorities with the largest number of social homes vacant for six months or more. They are Middlesbrough, Walsall, Oldham, Redcar and Cleveland, Sunderland, Knowles, Havering, Kingston upon Hull, Liverpool, Hackney, Newham, Hyndburn, Copeland, Mansfield, Teesdale, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bradford, North East Lincolnshire, Hartlepool and Cheltenham.

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