History lessons

Empty homes are rising at their fastest rate for 17 years. It is no coincidence that the last time things were this bad we were in a recession. Weak housing markets cause homes to become empty, and worse still they are hopeless at bringing them back into use.

Salvation in the 1980s recession came from housing associations.

Most were then small, young organisations, many borne out of the short-life movement. They saw the opportunity and bought-up abandoned homes and turned them into high-quality social housing. The legacy has served us well. That investment helped spark local regeneration and create some of the nation’s best mixed neighbourhoods. The numbers of empty homes on UK streets continued to fall for another 15 years reaching its lowest ever level in the middle of this decade.

But where will salvation come from this time? In the early 1980s housing associations acquired about half their stock from regenerating empty homes; today it has become a fringe activity. Of course I can understand why. As housing associations grew into big companies they could call the shots, they could partner with or even become big developers and build all the housing they wanted. With fewer empty homes many opportunities had dried up anyway.

But now property abandonment is back and big property development partners are falling by the wayside. Housing associations can’t build all the homes they need anymore. We need to get them back to what they were so good at: regenerating empty homes.

The problem is housing grant rules are geared for housing boom and new housing development. Most housing associations that apply for grant to regenerate an empty house see their application thrown back marked ‘uncompetitive’ or ruled out on the grounds that rooms in the house don’t match new-build standards.

Similar problems have virtually strangled all life out of the short life movement. Mean rules and strict standards have made it virtually impossible for any housing association to claim grant for temporary housing. The charities and housing co-operatives that still manage to operate short life housing schemes mostly do so with no grant support at all. All this when the Homes and Communities Agency’s affordable housing pot looks unlikely to be fully spent.

In a failing housing market, housing associations are the only way investment is going to get where it is needed. But housing grant rules are the barrier. Let’s get the rules changed and help housing associations be our salvation once again.

Inside Housing is running a campaign calling for empty homes to be brought back into use. For more information see our campaign page. You can express your support by signing our petition or emailing emptypromise@insidehousing.co.uk