Council's empty homes strategy has impact
Posted on Friday 11th February 2022
Properties that are left vacant for a long time can have an adverse effect on local communities when they could be filling a gap in the housing market.
Newport City Council adopted a strategy to turn more of these long-term vacant properties into homes again.
It sets out how it will work with owners, partner agencies and residents to minimise the impact of empty houses and meet rising housing demand.
But it is also committed to acting firmly, including enforcing sales, where owners fail to take responsibility for their properties. If the council carries out statutory works and the owner fails to pay the cost, a court order is not always necessary to enforce the sale.
One long-term empty house near the city centre was recently sold at auction by the owner.
This was a voluntary sale but followed work by the council to make them deal with the issue and the council now aims to work with the new owner to ensure it is brought back into beneficial use.
Councillor Jane Mudd, Leader of Newport City Council, said: "We are committed to tackling the problem of long-term empty homes to minimise their impact on neighbours and local communities as well as to meet the rising housing need.
"We are taking strong action where necessary, including enforced sales, and a council tax discount is no longer given for such properties except for certain exemptions such as the owner going into residential care.
"However, wherever possible, we want to help owners bring houses back into use by offering expert advice and through initiatives such as our improvement loans scheme.
"The council's first step would be to approach the owners of an empty house which is causing issues to neighbours and the wider community to ask them to remedy the problems. .
"But, if necessary, we will use our statutory powers. Too many houses are empty in the city for no good reason, and we are doing everything we can within our powers to turn them into homes for individuals and families who need them."
Find out more about how the council deals with empty homes at www.newport.gov.uk/emptyhomes