Agenda item

Purpose of report

This report presented the updated Empty Homes Strategy. The Strategy was initially implemented in 2022. The revised version had been updated to reflect changes in the national and local context, providing a framework for the Council’s approach to reducing the number of Empty Homes within the district and mitigating their impacts.

The Strategy was recommended by the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the updated Empty Homes Strategy for adoption and publication.

2.    Delegates authority to the Head of Service for Public Protection in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to make minor amendments to the strategy to ensure continued accuracy.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet could have recommended that the Empty Homes Strategy was not updated, and that the existing version of the strategy remained in place.

The implementation of an Empty Homes Strategy was not a statutory duty of the Council, and therefore it could have been decided not to implement an Empty Homes Strategy.

Reasons for decision

Empty Homes could be a cause of concern for communities. In order to effectively tackle Empty Homes, respond to concerns from residents, and support property owners in bringing their property back into use, it was important that SKDC implemented a clear and consistent approach, with teams across the Council working together and sharing knowledge.

This strategy provided a framework for the approach to Empty Homes and aimed to lead to a reduction in the number of Empty Homes across the district, as well as mitigate their impacts. The Strategy was not a statutory requirement but was regarded as good practice.

The updates proposed to the strategy ensured that figures and cited information were recent, and that the strategy was updated following changes to the teams holding responsibility for dealing with Empty Homes.

‘Long-term’ empty homes were those regarded as being empty for over two years. The majority within the district were privately owned but a small number were owned by South Kesteven. Out of the 154 long-term empty properties within South Kesteven 15 were owned by the Council. The responsibility for returning them to use sits with the Voids team.

Nationally, just over 1% of the UK’s housing stock was defined as long term empty, and in England the number of long term empty homes had increased by nearly ten per cent over the past five years according to a report by the Local Government Association.

Currently the rate of Empty Homes in South Kesteven was in line with the national picture. As of 31 March 2024, there were 661 empty homes within the district. Of these, 497 properties had been empty for between six months and two years, and 164 had been empty for over two years. Properties were risk rated to create a ‘priority’ list.

The Strategy was initially published in 2022, however in February 2024 it was reviewed and updated with contributions from the Empty Homes Working Group (which contained a range of officers from South Kesteven).

An approach of advice and guidance was preferred to enforcement action, but there were tools available if required.