Local democracy

Agenda item

EMPTY HOMES UPDATE

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AN”) provides an update on the Council’s empty homes programme of work.

 

Recommended –

 

That the Committee considers the report and requests a further update on the work of the Empty Homes team in 12 months.

 

(Julie Rhodes – 01274 431163)

(Dave North – 01274 437629)

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AN”) provided an update on the Council’s empty homes programme of work.

 

The Chair invited the representatives to present the report to the Committee. The Principal Operations Manager and the Private Sector Housing Manager gave the following joint synopsis; the provision of quality and affordable housing and communities and neighbourhoods where people wanted to live was a key strategic priority within both the District Plan and Council Plan. Tackling empty homes in the district contributed towards the issues of housing supply, housing quality and creating neighbourhoods which were clean and where people felt safe.

 

The district had over 217,000 properties. It was recognised that there were always a number of homes that were empty due to people moving home, ending tenancies, etc.  known as “transactional empties”. These properties were generally empty for less than 6 months (however due to the current housing market it was not uncommon for properties to remain empty for up to 12 months whilst being sold). These properties did not generally need any intervention from the Empty Homes and Loans team so resources were focussed on properties that had been empty for more than 6 months (known as “long term empties”). 

 

Following presentation, the Chair moved the discussion towards questions and answers –

·         How confident was the service in being aware of the number of empty properties in Bradford?

o   All data had been pulled from up to date Council Tax records. In addition, 2 officers were employed on a full time basis to undertake the work of familiarising empty properties in the city;

·         Explanation was sought on work done towards delisted properties?

o   Officers were investing significant efforts in dealing with properties under this category due to the substantial demand of work required on delisted buildings;

·         Why the number of delists in the City Ward were higher than all other wards?

o   It was important to understand the makeup and condition of housing to linkages to poverty related issues;

·         In relation to Incommunities, was it exempt or was it able to delist a property if it seemed unfit for purpose?

o   It was in a position to delist but generally refrained from categorising in such circumstances. The Council abstained from encouraging delisting due to financial loss such as Council Tax but only under the circumstances of no choice;

·         At what stage would Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) play a part?

o   Following risk assessment, if a property found to be in a worst state scenario and with no further prospect of progress with a owner then the Council would have a strong case to take the property without the current owner's consent in return for compensation.

o   If the owner objects to the CPO then the case would be progressed to a public enquiry which is a very challenging stage and time consuming hence the last resort of a CPO.

 

Resolved –

 

(1)       That a progress report be presented in 12 months which             specifically   focuses on the work being undertaken to reduce the number of empty    properties in areas where there is a high             number of empty properties.

 

(2)       That representatives from the Incommunities Group attend a      meeting of the Regeneration and Environment Overview and            Scrutiny Committee to provide information on the work currently       undertaken by the group to reduce the number of empty properties in its ownership in the Bradford District.

 

(3)       This Committee requests that a report be presented in the New             Municipal Year which details the impact of Council Tax Premiums in reducing the number of empty properties across the Bradford            District.

 

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place

 

 

Supporting documents: