EMPTY HOMES WEEK STARTS
1ST DECEMBER 2014
CALLING ALL LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND
BECOME A SUPPORTER OF THE CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE THE
NUMBER OF LONG-TERM EMPTY HOMES
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP YET? – WE HAVE!
The Empty Homes Agency (EHA) are asking local authorities to sign up to support the Empty Homes Agency campaign to reduce long-term empty homes (empty for six months or more) across England.
The pledge
In doing so, the EHA are asking you to pledge, as a local authority supporter, to:
- Have an empty homes plan or strategy for your area, with aspirations to reduce the number of long-term empty homes.
- Seek to attract and/or allocate resources in your area to refurbish empty homes or empty spaces above shops for those in housing need. Working in partnership with property owners, housing associations and community organisations to do so.
To show your support, simply email: policy@emptyhomes.com, with the message: “we are a local authority supporter of the Empty Homes Agency campaign to reduce the number of long-term empty homes across England”, and the subject line: “Local authority supporter of the campaign to reduce the number of long-term empty homes”. It would be great if you could email us soon, and by the end of December 2014 at the latest.
As part of the EHA campaign, we will be asking all the Westminster political parties to pledge that, should they form the next government, they will adopt a plan to tackle empty homes within their first year in power, as part of a wider approach to tackling housing need. We believe priority should be given to this work, as bringing empty homes back into use plays an important role in meeting housing needs.
In Kent
NUE is aiming to build on the success of 2013/14 which was a record breaking year:
42 loans awarded, allowing works to start on 146 units.
NUE providing £2.7m financial support levering in £5.9m from publlc/private sectors.
During the year 611 empty properties were brought back into use across the County through all interventions.
We have already undertaken a number of proejcts to convert former commercial premises to residential use, maximised empty spaces above shops and have developed a new partnership with AmicusHorizon in relation to our Affordable Homes Project.
Please spend some time looking at our website especially videos and case studies sections to see for yourself the results.