Issue - meetings

Committee considered a report on the first draft of the Empty Property Strategy. The Strategy set out the Council’s objectives in relation to bringing empty properties back into use.

Members were informed that there were approximately 750 properties in the District that had been empty for more than 6 months as at August 2020. This was an increase of approx. 100 since 2019, however it was noted that comparatively, this was not as bad as some other local authority areas which had seen numbers double due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was believed that many of these empty properties were short term ‘transactional’ cases and it was anticipated that this number would decrease again in coming months as estate agents had reported seeing sales and lettings levels increase recently.

Empty properties represented a waste resource and were the main focus of the empty property strategy.

The draft strategy tied together the three main strands of empty property work: advice, assistance and enforcement, and it presented a framework for co-ordinated work to shape an Empty Property Action Plan. The strategy was also to have a key role in helping to secure potential external funding for housing related projects across the District.

The Joint Empty Properties Officer took Committee through the Strategy, explaining the key parts and their rationale. The promotional work undertaken by the service was outline, demonstrating the steps taken to actively engage with owners of empty properties. This included highlighting available support/ financing for options to bring the property back into use.

Councillor Tom Munro joined the meeting and Councillor Tricia Clough left the meeting at this point.

Committee were advised that legislation enabled the Council to charge an additional premium, or uplift, on council tax for empty properties, increasing for each additional year it remained vacant. For example, 200% of the usual council tax rate could be charged for a property empty for over two years. This power was not yet used by the Council however a working group had been set up to explore this option.

The Joint Empty Properties Officer informed Members that he works closely with Environmental Health and other services through the Corporate Enforcement Group, to work collaboratively to tackle empty properties where they cause issues in the community.

Consultation on the strategy was to be carried out at various stages throughout the development process with internal and external organisation, including public, private and voluntary sectors.

Members were concerned that the VAT discount on refurbishments after a property was empty for two years might act as an incentive to leave the property empty until it was eligible for the discount. The Joint Empty Properties Officer advised that this was unlikely as the discount was not well known and only promoted to owners/landlords with properties already empty for two years.

A Member queried whether the Compulsory Purchase Order power could be used in respect of properties where tenants were causing anti-social behaviour. The Joint Empty Properties Officer advised that in relation to the empty property  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32