Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Empty Homes

Posted in: Discussion | Policy forum

affordable, affordable homes, debate, empty

12/01/2009 11:08 am

Harry Lime

Harry Lime

Posts: 164

Much of the information coming back seems to indicate that the majority of empty homes in all parts of the UK are those that were built for Shared Ownership/Shared Equity. Either the developers/RSL's are prevented from switching tenure by the planning conditions or the finances don't add up. In my region it's acknowledged generally that Shared Ownership is a tenure type that neither Developers or purchasers are keen on. However with my strategy hat on, the reason why Local authorities and their housing strategy departments demand the diversity of tenure is to avoid the monotenure nightmares of the past. Whilst it might "make sense" to let these empty properties to anyone on the waiting list, surely this is just storing up problems for the communities, 10 years or so down the line? I don't know the answer to this one, I must confess - any solutions?

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this discussion

Post a reply

Sort: Newest first | Oldest first

Author

Message

Alan Savage

Alan Savage

Posts: 49

13/01/2009 10:14 am

The thing that puzzles me about there not being enough homes for people to live in, Harry, is why someone isn’t encouraging more people to build their own homes. I seem to remember this was all the fashion at one time. People bought a plot of land and others mucked in on the estate to help each other build their house which reduced the cost significantly. Now with millions of people becoming unemployed, surely the time is ripe for people to be encouraged to build their own property. Just a thought.

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Harry Lime

Harry Lime

Posts: 164

13/01/2009 3:32 pm

On paper Self build seems like a good idea, however in it's traditional formal, even for social housing the developer relies upon the capital receipts from the self builder, in the current financial market that's not happening, and as mentioned Shared Ownership appears to be a bit of a dead duck in terms of popularity. Perhaps social self build could possibly work, but that doesn't answer what they way forward is for the empty properties already built is. The only solution that seems to have broad support is intermediate rents, thus targeting those who otherwise would have to get a private tenancy, however many developers would require further grant to make this stack up, despite the fact they've been receiving no rental income on any of these units for up to 12 months.

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Terry Harding

Terry Harding

Posts: 32

14/01/2009 12:29 pm

Here we are in the midst of a deepening recession, with a fast approaching forecasted 3 million unemployed and many people loosing their homes and their jobs and we get a simplistic suggestion by Alan Savage, who thinks we should encourage more people to build their own homes. I bet Gordon Brown never thought that there was such a simple solution to the problem, after all, in an act of desperation the Government are trying to shore up the economy by throwing money at the banks and promising funding to encourage small business loans, in order to get the long termed unemployed back to work. Mr Savage appears to think that self build will resolve the house shortage, bring down the unemployment figures and kick start the economy in one go. I wonder if he would care to explain how “do it yourself house building” will help the hard pushed building industry get back on its feet. He appears to forget that self build, does away with need for building operatives and does nothing to encourage the building industry. I also wonder if Mr Savage will explain who will supply the land and especially the finance for self home builders, especially as banks and building societies have cut down drastically on lending money and will he also explain exactly how it will resolve the unemployment figures. We certainly need jobs and many more affordable housing, what we do not need is loony ideas. Loans and Grants are not the answer and money could be more wisely spent by creating jobs and the Government should drop the PFI policy and start investing tax payers money where it is needed on building new houses and roads, we certainly need them and by instigating a construction revival to create a massive house and road building programme and also by concentrating on meeting a long needed Government investment back into Local Authorities This would create jobs and allow them to fix the infrastructure, build schools and new Council Houses. That is the positive way of kick starting the economy, for once people get back to work, they will start spending again and

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Rate this topic

  • 1 star out of 5
  • 2 stars out of 5
  • 3 stars out of 5
  • 4 stars out of 5
  • 5 stars out of 5

You must be signed in to rate.

Post a Reply

You must sign in to rate this topic or make a post

sign in register

Why not register?

Registration allows you to sign up for newsletters, comment on articles, add posts in the forums, quiz our panel of experts, and save articles and jobs in the My IH section.

Register now

Newsletter Sign-up

More Newsletters

Most active members

People are discussing

tags Accountability, advice, affordable, Affordable Home Ownership, affordable homes, affordable housing, antisocial tenant, benefits, Big Society, budget, building, consultation, councils, Cuts, debate, development, discussion, early intervention, Government, housing benefit, housing policy, politics, rent, support, tsa

Most discussed

Most recent posts

  • From Chris, 27/04/2012 11:56 am in Housing Benefit cap

    Did the MP ever acknowledge how the policies that he supports would not lead to rent reductions but would instead lead to the mass displacement of the poor?

  • posted Anonymously, 26/04/2012 1:06 pm in Does Westminster serve as an example of the dangers of Right-to-Buy?

    It appears that they were working harder to socially cleanse the Borough than they were on reducing rents!

  • posted Anonymously, 25/04/2012 4:31 pm in Rent free way of beating greedy HA's

    As a housing professional who understands rent setting regimes, what I find more concerning is the general lack of understanding as to how / why social rents increase and the way in which they are set.

  • From simon ryan, 23/04/2012 2:32 pm in HOUSING ASSOCIATION TENANT FAILURE

    agree or not we all have the same ends we are trying to reach ,we just go about it in different ways , in an ideal world there wouldnt be a problem but in the world we live into today , the only way to achieve the out come is to comunicate with each other and debate ,, even then no 1 person or group can achieve the ideal world because we all have different opinions on how it should be , ide be happier with some of the posters on here as leaders  of my H/As than some who are ...

  • posted Anonymously, 16/04/2012 2:51 pm in Sub Letting

    This would cause chaos with people pulling all sorts of scams to get a tenancy. If they need to be housed and qualify for social housing, then they need to get themselves on the waiting list where they will be allocated a home as and when one comes available also their needs must be assessed against the needs of everyone else on the waiting list.

  • From mrkfm, 28/02/2012 9:05 am in National Planning Policy Framework

    Thanks John.

  • posted Anonymously, 19/02/2012 9:19 pm in S21 notice given in advance of any problems

    jono 6.30 pm "...You could always save, or advance your career and either move into private accommodation or buy a home. That way you would liberate yourself from your evil social landlord who provides you with a property, maintains it for you and probably does other things to try and improve your local community, all for a rent which probably doesn't cover all its costs or afford the building of new homes."... There you are, you impersonate fully the spirit of evil landlords philosophy (fat salaried executives and directors who have made a good career and good life out of ...

  • From F451, 08/02/2012 9:16 pm in RSL`s and Government Incentives

    Have a look at the related story threads on this site and you will pick up a number of views and arguments.

  • posted Anonymously, 08/02/2012 4:47 pm in Ending an 'Affordable' Tenancy

    AFFORDABLE? Another huge con on those with the least in our society... It is the new face of the Rachman Landlord in our age, enthusiasistically embraced by HAs and social landlords, done with all the care in the world and in the tenant's best interest of course.

  • From Neil Meager, 27/01/2012 1:00 pm in Shapps Speaks - but then what?

    All i see around me is evidence of a society divided up by race age & gender & sexual orientation in fact a more cynical part of me wud say theres a Nazi program being put in place. I see buy to let landlords running nice homes better than government housing but excluding the poor from major cities using the LHA system. RSLs budgets being slashed making their task of providing decent homes impossible & yet tenant empowerment programs being setup which is easy to see will plug the gap & replace RSLs which shud face bankruptucy soon. Homeownership ...