October

2007
THE EMPTY HOMES AGENCY
Monthly News Bulletin

Empty Homes Agency, 195 – 197 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5NE
Tel: 020 7828 6288 Email: shashi@emptyhomes.com
Statements in this newsletter are for guidance only and the Empty Homes Agency will not accept
liability for losses resulting from reliance on them. Professional advice should always be obtained.
Table of Contents

1 A Word….
2 EDMOs - Lewisham
3 Compulsory Purchase – An offer too good to miss!
4 News
5 Events
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1
A Word…
David Ireland, Chief Executive
As the party conference season ends what strikes me is how dramatically the political
landscape on housing has changed. Politicians of all colours have, in a period of just a
few months, woken up to the idea that housing is an issue in which they really can
make a big impact. Compared to the seemingly intractable Iraq, climate change, and
health service reform they might just be right.

What strikes me is this is no bandwagon. There is a sense of zeal and determination

about increasing housing supply that has crossed party boundaries and become a
political consensus. This is an atmosphere in which things really can happen. It is why
we think the current housing green paper “Homes for the Future More Affordable More
Sustainable” is so important. I understand that there may be another government
policy paper on housing next year but this one sets out the government’s thinking.

Today we publish our response. It is in the main positive and supportive. We concur
with the main theme of the paper that England’s underlying housing problem is
undersupply. And we welcome the government’s determination to resolve it. Whilst
some of our supporters would like us to oppose new housebuilding, we don’t, and we
say so here. Even if every empty home were returned to use there would still be
housing need in England.

We welcome the government’s acknowledgement that better use of the existing

housing stock including bringing empty homes back into use contributes to increases
in housing supply. They said it in their response to Kate Barker’s Review of Housing
Supply and they say it again in the green paper, devoting most of one chapter to it.
However there does seem to be a difference in tone. Whist their enthusiasm for new
houses is palpable returning, empty homes to use don’t seem to elicit the same
excitement. The government sets out clear targets and timescales for new homes, but
there are no targets for returning empty homes to use, and no commitment to
including them within the overall new housing supply targets.

If you were looking for an alternative approach the Mayor of London’s new draft
housing strategy published last week sets it out. The Mayor has set a hard target for
reducing the numbers of empty homes, and has explicitly included the targeted homes
returned to use within the overall targeted housing supply increases. I’m convinced
that this is the right approach

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2
Indeed if the government were to take the same approach we could see a national
target of 150,000 new homes from long-term empty property. Now that is something to
get excited about.

David Ireland
Chief Executive
Empty Homes Agency
Tel: 020 7963 6883
Email: david.ireland@emptyhomes.com

Empty Dwelling Management

Orders

Nick Long
Fly tipped rubbish, abandoned cars and vans and an empty property, empty for years
falling into disrepair, an owner refusing to respond to letters and telephone calls. An all
to common story regarding empty property. Strangely this long standing empty
property in a popular road in Forest Hill in SE London had very few local complaints
from nearby residents, perhaps because the property had been empty for so long
people had "given up" and learnt to live and accept a wasted unused property in their
locally.

On the many occasions that I cycled out to inspect and photography the property, I
noticed the reaction of local people walking past the house, using a local footpath, on
seeing the property -shock, surprise and often anger on their faces. "Why when so
many people are in desperate need of housing is this property lying empty" A lone
local elected member and myself were determined to bring the property back into use.

With more than 70 families in bed and breakfast, 19,000 on the housing register and
350 families in temporary accommodation Lewisham was not prepared to accept the
situation. The property, an end of terrace x 3-bedroom house was a too valuable
resource to let go unused and unloved.

Using its new powers within the 2004 Housing Act, section 133, Lewisham have
gained its first interim empty dwelling management order. This particular property in

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Forest Hill had been empty for more than 10 years and also had a £10K Council Tax
arrear!

The application to the Residential Property Tribunal still failed to illicit a response or
reaction from the owner, but it did finally, at long last spur the owner into agreeing to
sell the property.

Hopefully the new owner will be keen to refurbish the property and bring it back into
use and occupation. If they don't the borough will be seeking to enforce its EDMO and
take control of the property- helping to meet desperate housing need in the borough.
Other owners of empty property had also better be aware that Lewisham has 5 other
EDMO applications pending. The question troubling me however is why so few
council's are using these additional powers to tackle those eyesore empty properties
blighting local neighbourhoods?

Nick Long
Property Initiatives Manager
LB Lewisham

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4
3
Compulsory Purchase – An offer
too good to miss!

Chris Skinner

Great Yarmouth Council regularly uses its compulsory purchase powers to resolve
housing, planning and environmental problems in the Borough. Many empty houses
have been brought back into use as a result of CPOs. Untidy and derelict sites have
been acquired for subsequent development and amenity use. The Legal Team has
gained real expertise in this area and is regularly consulted by other councils on CPO
problems. For some years, too, the Council has undertaken CPO work on behalf of
other authorities – including Watford, Cambridge and Waveney. As more and more
councils consider making compulsory purchase orders Great Yarmouth has decided
to expand on the service it offers. For a fixed fee of £1,500 + VAT it will deal with a
single property CPO from start to finish. This will cover making and advertising the
Order, serving the statutory notices and vesting the title to the land in the acquiring
authority. If there are objections to the Order and a public inquiry is required, the cost
will be more, depending on the amount of work required.

Chris Skinner, Head of Central Services at Great Yarmouth, regularly lectures on the
practical use of compulsory purchase powers and recognises that this is a growing
area for councils. “It seems only sensible that we should be using our expertise to
help those authorities that are making CPOs for the first time, or who only do so
infrequently. By offering our services at a reasonable price it helps all of us. We can
produce a small income for Great Yarmouth Council and we can use our experience
to the benefit of others.”

For further information on the CPO service offered by Great Yarmouth please contact
Chris Skinner on 01493 846314 or by email at cfs@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

News

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SECOND HOMES ARE DRIVING OUT LOCALS

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NW Evening Mail - Barrow-in-Furness,Lake District,UK
There's also a large part of the year when houses are empty and there's no
spending in the local economy. "It obviously has a detrimental effect on both ...

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Top ten tips for filing your tax returns - 28th September 2007
Scotsman - United Kingdom
1 Minimise void periods: Empty properties cost money. Attracting quality tenants
who treat a property well and stay is key to successful property management ...

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Empty offices cost town £10k rent a month - 26th September 2007
NW Evening Mail - Barrow-in-Furness,Lake District,UK
BARROW Borough Council is losing out on £10000-a-month rent from the new
Emlyn Hughes House, which stands empty. Since its completion in May, ...

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Livingstone gives housing warning to councils - 26th September 2007

Politics.co.uk - London,UK
Mr Livingstone told delegates today he was "ashamed" every time he looked out
of his office window at the empty land on the Potter's Field site in south ...

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E ve n t s

Date: 18 October 2007

Event:Young People: telling it straight, Lakeside Centre, Aston University, Birmingham

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One day youth-led conference on preventing homelessness. For further details please go
to:www.homeless.org.uk/events

Date: 3rd - 7th December 2007

Event: National Week Of Action 2007

For more details please click here

Date: Wednesday 5 December 2007

Event: Lime Legal’sRegulating and Developing the Private Rented Sector Conference
2007

London (Jurys Hotel Great Russell Street, London WC1)

For full conference programme, speakers’ details and booking form click here:
www.limelegal.co.uk or tel the booking hotline on 01249 701555 or email info@limelegal.co.uk

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For more info please look at our website:
http://www.emptyhomes.com/aboutus/events.html