It has been announced today that Kent County Council’s pioneering ‘No Use Empty’ scheme, which is now in its 5th Year and has returned 1,627 empty properties across Kent back into use, will be rolled out in Bristol.
Bristol City Council will adopt Kent’s No Use Empty brand with the aim of returning 2000 empty homes to use by 2015.
Councillor Anthony Negus, Bristol Cabinet Member for Strategic Housing and Regeneration, said:
“Tackling the shortage of housing in Bristol is one of the most important challenges facing us and in order to reduce the gap we need to use every means at our disposal. Targeting empty homes is one of them. Partnership with Kent’s well-established and successful campaign will enable us to make use of their skills and resources at a saving to local taxpayers.”
The No Use Empty scheme was launched in Kent in 2005 as a means of tackling the worsening housing shortage across the County with a £6M Capital Fund, allowing owners of empty homes to access secured interest-free loans to fund the repairs needed to return them to use.
Loans of up to £25,000 per unit are available, with the average loan being £18,700. Kent has to date administered £4.1M of secured loans, which has drawn a further £8M of funding, giving a total investment of £12.1M across the County. All loans are repaid in full and recycled back into the scheme, meaning that no ongoing investment is required.
As part of the scheme, Empty Homes Officers across the participating districts in Kent are proactive in targeting and engaging with owners in order to highlight the benefits of returning empty properties to use. Officers provide support and guidance, and in extreme cases are able to issue Compulsory Purchase Orders to force the sale of a property.
The No Use Empty Project team at Kent County Council will be on hand to share knowledge on best practice with Bristol:
Steve Grimshaw, Regeneration Project Manager for the Kent County Council Empty Homes Initiative, said:
“No Use Empty is about taking a proactive approach to the issue of empty homes. We aim to highlight the negative impact of empty homes, while at the same time offering owners the support, both financial and otherwise, to do something about it. The facts speak for themselves: 1,627 new homes created since 2005 at no additional cost to the taxpayer is a fantastic achievement and has had a real impact across the County.”
Kevin Lynes, Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, added: “We recognise the value of turning empty properties into much needed homes and have had tremendous success in the five years that we have been operating our No Use Empty scheme. We have long believed that it is a viable solution to the problem of housing shortage nationally, not just in Kent, and the scheme has deservedly received national recognition.
“It’s fantastic news that Bristol City Council is now adopting the No Use Empty Brand. We can share our knowledge and expertise with them to help breathe new life into more communities through the use of empty and derelict properties.”
The move by Bristol comes just a week after the Institute of Public Policy Research issued a warning that the UK’s housing shortfall could reach 750,000 by 2025. While empty homes have been steadily increasing across the UK, recently topping one million, empty homes in Kent are declining.
David Ireland, Chief Executive at national charity the Empty Homes Agency, has been a vocal supporter of Kent’s No Use Empty scheme, and has urged other local authorities to follow their example and make empty homes part of the solution to the housing shortage. He said:
“The fact is that there are enough empty homes in the UK to house half of the families on housing waiting lists. Returning empty homes to use is crucial in addressing the UK’s housing shortage, and we fully support the work being done in Kent, and now in Bristol.”
For more information on what’s happening in the West of England visit :
http://no-use-emptywest.co.uk/site/home_1.asp