a cure for empty homes · empty properties back into use 3 a cure for empty homes In many parts of...

a cure for empty homesDavid Ireland

Improvement and Development Agency

Layden House

76-86 Turnmill Street

London

EC1M 5LG

tel 020 7296 6600

fax 020 7296 6666

www.idea.gov.uk

IDeA

foreword 4a three step approach to bringing empty properties back into use 4a plan of action 4

part 1. diagnosis 5

where to start 5problems with council tax information and how to overcome them 6improving the quality of your database 7understanding why homes are empty 10carrying out a survey of owners opinions 10

part 2.prescription xx

interpretation of surveys xxusing property auctioneers xxcouncil agreed purchase xxhome improvement agencies xxunderwriting private loans xxloans and equity release xxgetting homes back into rented use xxprivate sector leasing xxtenant finding schemes xxshort life housing xxunsightly property xxdangerous buildings xxhomesteading xxcompulsory purchase xxdemolition and clearance xxempty dwelling edmos xxdeciding when to use edmos xxlong-term empty properties xxexemptions xxoffering voluntary approaches to property owners xxis it financially viable? xxwhat is the likely cost of putting the dwelling into a habitable condition? xxwhat other expenses might you incur? xxwhat rental income are you likely to receive from the property? xxpaying for capital expenditure xxfinal edmos xx

part 3.treatment xx

working with owners of empty homes xxcross borough working xxrecording and performance indicators xxacknowledgments xx

contents

4a cure for empty homes

Housing markets like people can get sick andempty properties are a visible symptom of manyills. Local authorities with their strategic overviewof the housing market and their enabling andstatutory powers are well positioned to act as the doctor.

Good local authority approaches to empty homes,like good doctors, don’t just treat the symptoms of an illness but find out what the underlyingproblem is. They prescribe the appropriatemedicine and treat and monitor the patient untilthey are cured. Like doctors, they may call in helpfrom elsewhere, they may get a second opinion, or they may refer the patient on to other experts.But ultimately they remain the coordinator.

This guidebook is intended to show you how thethree-stage approach works for empty homes aswell a sick patients. This is not a guide to writing a strategy but a guide to planning action.

a three-step approach to bringing empty properties back into use

3 a cure for empty homes

In many parts of the country there is a shortage ofhousing which is fuelling high house prices andpreventing many ordinary people from affording adecent home. The Government is committed to astep change in housing supply to address this. Ourresponse to Kate Barker's review of housing supplysets out our determination to do more to tacklethe problem. But at the same time we mustensure that we make best possible use of existinghousing. Empty homes are an affront to peoplewho cannot get a foothold on the housing ladder.

In 2005 there were 680,000 empty homes inEngland of which 280,000 had been empty formore than six months. Whilst this helps toillustrate the scale of the problem it does notconvey the impact in human terms. Empty homescan do great harm to local communities. Theyattract petty crime, devalue neighbouring propertyand eat away at the sense of local pride peoplehave in their community.

Central government can set the policy context andenact legislative solutions but little will resultwithout the active participation of local authorities.The housing function performed by localauthorities has expanded significantly in recentyears. It has moved away from acting principally asa landlord responding to housing need to becomea strategic enabler responsive to demands fromthe whole community. Authorities across thecountry are successfully using a wide range ofmethods to help bring empty properties back into use, ranging from informal advice andencouragement through practical measures like private sector leasing schemes to enforcement measures like enforced sale andcompulsory purchase.

The introduction of Empty Dwelling ManagementOrders provides an opportunity for local authoritiesto deal with empty homes in ways that were notpreviously possible and which strike a balancebetween the rights of the owner and theopportunity to make better use of neglectedempty property. But those new powers are onlypart of the solution and cannot work effectivelyunless they are part of a well thought outapproach encompassing the full range of voluntaryand enforcement solutions which are tailored tothe requirements of property owners.

This guidance is part of a range of measuresendorsed by the government supporting theintroduction of the Housing Act 2004, includingour own technical guidance on Empty DwellingManagement Orders. This guidance aims to showhow local authorities can tackle empty homes intheir area. It advocates a strategic approach whichreflects that empty homes are a symptom of widerhousing market failure. By understanding what iswrong a local authority can work with others tobuild a range of appropriate solutions. Throughworking with property owners it can apply thesesolutions to facilitate bringing empty homes backinto use.

I am confident you will find this guidance avaluable resource which can be put to use in apractical way.

Foreword by Baroness Andrews OBE, Under Secretary of State,Department for Communities and Local Government

There is a subtle but crucial difference betweenplans and planning. Plans and strategies tend tobe written documents that explain the objectives,reasoning and the proposed actions to be taken inparticular area of work. Planning is the often-unwritten approach taken prior to action actuallytaking place.

Many local authorities have written and adoptedempty property strategies, sometimes as part of awider housing or community strategy andsometimes as a stand-alone strategy. Some arevery good. They show a commitment to tacklingempty homes and demonstrate how bringingthem back into use contributes to widercommunity objectives.

Of course the real evidence of a good localauthority approach to empty homes is not adocument but the outcomes that are delivered.This is where planning comes in. Preparation thatenables the authority to translate the strategy intoaction and outcomes, is what marks out the mostsuccessful local authority approaches to emptyhomes. US wartime general Dwight Eisenhowerput it this way: “ In preparing for battle I havealways found that plans are useless, but planningis indispensable”.

a plan of action

Baroness Andrews

5 a cure for empty homes 6core curriculum 2006-2007

There is an old adage in medicine that the firststep towards a cure is to know what the disease is.The adage works for housing markets too. Empty properties are the symptoms of many ills,and solutions to them are rarely effective unlessthe problems in the housing market have been diagnosed.

This section outlines ways in which you can findout what properties are empty, where they are,how long they have been empty and the reasonswhy they have been left empty.

The first part of any diagnosis is to pinpoint thesymptoms. How many empty homes are there?Where are they? And how long have they beenempty? Happily there is a source of informationavailable to local authorities that provides someanswers to these questions. That source is thecouncil tax database. Local authorities collectinformation from owners of all property in order to ensure they charge them the correct amount ofcouncil tax. Many local authorities charge counciltax on empty homes at discounted rates, and alloffer a series of exemptions for the first 6 monthsthat a residential property is empty. In order forthem to do this they collect and record a series of pieces of information and record them on thecouncil tax database. Some of this information is very useful in enabling the local authority tounderstand its empty property problem.

Particularly useful information includes:

• the address of the empty property

• the date that it became empty

• the reason that the property is empty

• the name and address of the personresponsible for paying the council tax (usually the property owner) .

Some simple analysis of this information shouldenable the local authority to work out:

• how many empty homes they have,

• how many are long –term empties (I.e. they have been empty for more than 6 months),

• which parts of their area have highconcentrations of empty properties,

• what tenures the empty properties are (i.e.owned by the council, RSLs, other public bodies,or privately owned).

Of course this information becomes out of date very quickly and only provides a snapshotof what the situation was like on a particular day.But nevertheless it is an invaluable starting pointfor your diagnosis.

part 1. diagnosis

where to start

Information obtained from council tax should belargely correct but there are a number of factorsthat might affect the accuracy:

1. Delay: Running reports and carrying out analysistakes time. In that time empty houses can bereoccupied and others can become empty.

2. Interpretation: Council tax forms are notprincipally designed with empty homesstrategies in mind. There are numerousexemption codes and it is easy for mistakes tobe made by property owners or council officials.

3. Second homes: the distinction line betweensecond homes and empty homes is sometimeshard to draw. It is easy for second homes toinadvertently be classified as empty. Clearly thiswill most affect local authorities with highnumbers of second homes.

4. Properties exempt from council tax: someproperties for example properties deemed to be uninhabitable are exempt from council tax altogether and may not feature on the database.

5. Fraud: Although it is not widespread, counciltax fraud is not uncommon either. Someproperty owners may give false or misleadinginformation on the occupancy of their propertyin order to benefit from discounts.

6. Fraud detection: Local authorities carry outchecks to ensure that fraud is kept to aminimum. It’s probable that those who carrythis out well have less fraud.

There have been several reported cases of localauthority internal policies preventing internalsharing of council tax information. This should nolonger be happening. The Government has givenlocal authorities specific powers to share and usethis information. The powers are contained insection 85 of the Local Government Act 2003 andallow information on property details, addresses,owners name and contact information obtainedfrom council tax to be used for:

a. identifying vacant dwellings

b. taking steps to bring vacant dwellings back into use.

There have also been a number of reported casesof information not being shared because of ITissues. For example restrictive licenses for use ofcouncil tax software or internal policies restrictingaccess to IT databases to certain members of staff.These are relatively minor problems and should beresolvable. Where they are not some creativethinking can get around them. For example manylocal authority council tax sections downloadregular reports of empty homes into MS.excel orMS.access databases to avoid the need for anadditional software license. Others have givendelegated authority to empty property officers tobe council tax enforcement officers, this simplemechanism allows empty property officer access tocouncil tax records without transgressing councilpolicies on data security.

problems with council tax information and how to overcome themproblems with council tax information and how to overcome them

Empty homes are not a big issue for EastHampshire District Council. Yet there are a fewlong-term problem private empty properties thathave been a cause for concern for both membersand officers for several years.

The private sector housing team has recentlyinstigated an empty homes initiative, drawing incouncillors from the District Council as well astown councils to look at the strategic approach totackling empty homes in the area.

As part of their strategic approach to tacklingempty homes, the private sector housing teamwas very keen to establish an accurate base line of

empty property statistics in the district. Whilst theyhad access to a number of sources such as counciltax data, their view was that it was vital toestablish an accurate base line beforeimplementing the strategy.

In practical terms, this meant the empty propertyofficer physically visiting properties to check thatthey are empty and responding to calls frommembers of the public about empty homes. Whilstthis approach is extremely labour intensive, it isgiving East Hampshire District Council the accurateand robust data from which they can launch aneffective and tailored empty property strategy.

a good database is a good start

8core curriculum 2006-2007

utility companies Properties that use no utility services (gas,electricity, water) are likely to be empty. Utilitycompanies have records of usage of the servicesthey provide, and of properties that have beendisconnected. Whilst these records are not likely to be an exact record of empty homes they arelikely to be a good indicator. Electricity and waterare likely to be the best services (many occupiedhomes have no gas supply). Many utilitycompanies may be interested to share data, butthere are two issues that may make this difficult:

• the deregulation of utility services means thatthere are many service providers

• the sharing of some types of data may breachdata protection legislation.

telephone hotlinesThe people who know the most about emptyhomes are the people who live near to them. Youshould never underestimate this as a source ofinformation. Many people are very willing toreport where empty homes are, especially if theythink that the local authority is going to bringthem back into use.

It is sensible to consider council tax as a startingpoint that gives a general indication of the emptyproperty problem. There are two stages toimproving the quality of the your database. Firstlyremove details of occupied properties that haveinadvertently been included and secondly put indetails of empty homes that have been omitted.

removing occupied propertiesThere are numerous prescribed council taxexemption codes, but not all of them relate toempty homes. For example student halls ofresidence, homes where all the residents arementally impaired, and diplomats homes are allexempt even though they may well be occupied.Some local authorities have inadvertently includedall exemptions in their empty property database.

adding omitted empty homes Some empty homes are not included in council tax exemptions. For example long-termuninhabitable buildings that have been removedfrom council tax altogether, and empty spacesabove shops which are taxed under business ratesrather than domestic council tax. There are severalother sources of information on empty homes thatcan be used to supplement and improve thequality of the information. These should be added.

other sources of informationThere are many other sources of information onempty homes. These can be used to verify andimprove the quality of information you havederived from council tax.

refuse collection Unoccupied homes tend not to produce anyhousehold rubbish and so it is quite easy for thosecollecting refuse to identify empty homes. Somerefuse collection services keep a record of emptyhomes in order to help them plan their services.Refuse collection is a service that is sometimesprovided directly by the council and sometimescontracted out. In either case there may be mutualadvantages to sharing information.

emergency services Empty homes are known to be at high risk ofarson and can attract other forms of crime. Forthese reasons police and fire services frequentlycome across empty homes and many will bewilling to share information.

house condition surveysMost local authorities carry out private sectorhouse condition surveys every five years or so.These can provide useful information on thehousing stock and the housing market. As asource of primary information on empty homesthey may however be a bit limited.

• Most house condition surveys use an overallsample size of around 750– 2000 homes.Statistical techniques are then used to gross up the data for the total private homes in thedistrict. This may mean as few as 10 to 20individual empty homes are actually consideredin the survey, although the final report will grossthis up. The margin of error on these figures isvery high.

• Empty homes are often given a low priority inhouse condition surveys. Inspectors carrying outthe survey often find it difficult to gain accessand so ignore them and move on to occupiedhouses that are easier to inspect.

• House condition surveys are anonymous surveys,so you will not be able to find out addresses ofempty properties from the survey.

census A national census is carried out every ten yearsand provides the most complete of householdsurveys. It is possible to obtain accurateinformation on the numbers and whereabouts(although not exact addresses) of emptyproperties. General information is available free on the Office of National Statistics websitewww.statistics.gov.uk/census. Detailedinformation is available for a charge either todownload or on a DVD. Most local authoritieshave already purchased this information.

The major drawback of census data is thefrequency with which the data is collected. Thelast census was carried out in 2001; the next isdue in 2011. Data starts to become availableabout a year after the survey is completed.

improving the quality of your database


This four-bedroom house was last occupied in1976. When a neighbour reported it to theLondon Empty Homes Hotline it had been emptyfor a quarter of a century. So long in fact that theproperty was not recorded on the council taxdatabase and the council was not aware of theproperty. The hotline passed the details onto theLondon Borough of Enfield.

The owner had initially lived in the property foraround half a year and then moved out. Over timethe house went to rack and ruin.

Enfield’s Empty Property Officer, tracked down theowner. The owner did not want the hassle ofdoing anything with this property. Yet he agreedfor the Borough to take action when he wasoffered a renovation grant. In return, the Boroughgot a five-year nomination agreement allowing them to use the house to meet housing need inthe Borough.

Despite various setbacks throughout the process,(which included a couple coming forward falselyclaiming that they were the actual owners of theproperty) the work has now been completed.

Now Mrs Mills has moved into this property. Sheand her three children had been in cramped bedand breakfast accommodation since August 2001with just two rooms to themselves. “So far it hasbeen a good move for us,” said Mrs Mills, “andwe now have a three bedroom house.”

the one that nearly got away


One of the commonest questions asked aboutempty homes is “Why are they empty?” It’s areasonable question, and without an answer to it a local authority is unlikely to be successful inencouraging owners to return them to use. Afterall how can a local authority offer a solution unlessit understands what the problem is?

There are of course many reasons why homes are empty; reasons vary over time and from placeto place.

There have a been a number of surveys carried outasking owners of empty homes why their propertyis empty and what it would take to bring it backinto use. Full details of the larger surveys can beseen on the Empty Homes Agency’s websitewww.emptyhomes.com/resources/goodpractice

All surveys show a number of common themes:

• in every area of the country there are a largenumber of reasons why homes are empty

• a large proportion of empty homeowners claimthat they are in the process of returning theirproperty to use.

• about half of empty home owners say they wantno help in returning their property to use

• about half say they do want help.

A survey of opinions is essentially a piece ofmarket research and like market research theobject is to enable you to segment the market. In this case the segments are the different reasonswhy properties are empty. Segmentation allowsyou to understand the breadth and distribution ofcauses of properties being empty and helps you toplan the range of solutions that you need in orderto tackle them.

understanding why homes are empty

Owner of empty homes are a disparate andunconnected group of people. There are forexample no empty homeowners organisations.They should not be confused with landlords whoby definition own occupied property. In otherwords there is no one place to go to consult – youwill need to go to them. The simplest way to dothis is to carry out a postal survey.

You can either carry out the survey yourself orcommission a polling organisation to carry it outon your behalf. The advantages of carrying out a survey in-house are that for a small scale surveyyou will probably be able to do it more cheaply.This is less true for larger surveys where the polling organisation can achieve greater economies of scale.

The main advantages of using a pollingorganisation are that their experience andexpertise will make it easier to carry out and theresults will probably be more statistically reliable.

It also appears that polling organisations are ableto achieve much better response rates. This maybe because they are trusted as impartial in the waythat a councils are not.

Whatever route you take, the best source ofinformation is the council tax database. The DataProtection Act allows you to use council tax data for research purposes provided that personalinformation (for example, the owners name andaddress of property) is not identified in anypublished report. You are also entitled to disclosepersonal council tax information to external pollingcompanies you are employing, provided that theyabide by these rules.

The survey will be more useful if you excludetransient empty properties. The best way to do this is to restrict it to owners whose propertieshave been empty for a certain period (say 6months or more).

carrying out a survey of owners opinions

sample surveys There is only so much information you can findout sitting at your desk. To really find out whichhomes are empty you need to go out and take alook at them. It is probably impractical for mostlocal authorities to use this as primary method offinding out where empty homes are, but it can be very useful in improving the quality of yourinformation and verifying information from other sources.

The case study from Islington below shows howthey have created a very accurate working list ofempty properties, using a number of sources,which has really helped them deliver their empty property programme.

Of course there comes a point where the law ofdiminishing returns applies. It takes more andmore work to achieve very small improvementsin the quality of your information. Local authoritiesneed to take a view as to when they have reached this


Islington Council’s empty property officer isprovided with a list of empty properties from thecouncil tax database, which have been empty forover 6 months. They know that it is largely correctbut not accurate enough to be a working tool forall their empty property work. An annual exercisesees them clean up their list of empty properties.

They add to the council tax list the addresses of allempty homes they know about from othersources. For example referrals from the public, theLondon empty homes hotline, referrals from otherparts of the council.

They remove all duplicates.

Divide all the addresses into wards.

Carry out an on-foot survey of all addresses, ringon the doorbell and look for signs of occupation.

All occupied properties are removed from the list,(and referred back to council tax for them to carryout further checks).

A contact card is left at all properties that look likethey may be occupied but where nobody was in atthe time of the survey.

Where somebody calls in response to a calling cardthe property is either removed from the list orfurther checks are carried out.

The results are collated into a new empty propertylist that is the basis for Islington’s work programmefor the year.

The latest database clean up carried out byIslington took a week. They checked just less than800 properties. And now have a reliable andaccurate working list of 689 empty properties.

a complete approach to getting an empty property database


Surveys give broad indications of what theunderlying problems are within the local housingmarket from the perspective of the most importantgroup – owners of empty homes. They need to beread in conjunction with other information aboutlocal housing to build up a clear picture of whatthe overall problems are and therefore whatsolutions are needed.

A survey may for example suggest that there are a small number of problems that are responsiblefor the majority of homes becoming empty, or itmight suggest a wide range of problems. A surveymay indicate what sort of homes are empty. Arethey for example a result of a failed private rentedsector or are they as a result of large scaleproperty speculation.

Most surveys show up amazingly similar resultssuggesting that the reasons behind homes beingempty may not vary that much from one region to another.

Care needs to be taken not to over-analyse results. All surveys have a margin of error and aconfidence level based on the sample size and thereturn rate. Apparent differences and findings maynot be statistically significant. So check results witha statistician. Also care needs to be taken not toread information into results. Some of the resultsyou will get will simply be inconclusive.

what you can do: • Create a working list of empty homes in your

district. Get the information from your counciltax database and keep it up to date.

• Obtain information from other sources aboutempty homes in your district and use it toimprove and validate your working list.

• Analyse the data to find out where the emptyproperty hot spots are and how long homeshave been empty.

• Survey the opinions of owners of emptyproperties to find out why homes are being left empty.


In order to support local authorities in developingstrategies to tackle the issue of empty homes the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East) together with a small group of volunteerauthorities and other partners commissioned MORI to carry out research with the aim ofunderstanding why privately owned properties, in the East of England remained empty for morethan 6 months and to determine what obstaclesexist to bringing the properties back into use andidentify possible solutions.

This was the first time that a survey of emptyproperties had been carried out on a regionalbasis. The sample of nine local authorities wasselected by the group as being a cross sectioncovering urban, rural and coastal authorities in theEast of England. The database provided was takenfrom council tax records.

The survey was conducted by postal questionnairethat was sent to the owners of 3,200 properties inthe region that had been empty for at least sixmonths as of the 1 April 2005. An initial mail outwas dispatched with a reminder sent a monthlater. A total response rate of 37 per cent wasachieved. The study found:

A total of 60 per cent of owners stated they hadactually bought the property, mainly to live inthemselves or as an investment, while 22 per

cent of the properties had been inherited. Thirty four per cent had a mortgage or loan against the property.

Sixty-seven per cent said that owning the propertycaused them some problems or concerns.

The reasons given by the majority of respondentsas to why the property remained empty were todo with repairs and/or renovation. This includedthe largest single reason, 37 per cent, saying thatthe work was in progress, 17 per cent that itneeded doing, and 9 per cent that they wereplanning to do the work soon. A total 9 per cent said that they could not afford to repair orrenovate the property. The second main reasongiven, 28 per cent, was that they were trying tosell the property.

Forty two per cent thought that at least one of theseven services currently offered by the participatinglocal authorities might encourage them to get theproperty occupied. But overall nearly 60 per centdid not want any of these services.

Sixty four per cent of respondents said that they expected that the property will eventually besold or rented out, with 21 per cent saying theydid not know and 3 per cent that it was not for occupation.

a regional survey of empty homes owners

Having identified what and why homes are emptyin your area, the next step is to prepare a medicinecabinet of appropriate solutions that the councilcan offer to help get them back into use.

As in medicine there is no cure-all pill that willsolve all problems. But there is a wide range ofsolutions available from light intervention such asproviding advice on selling property through tohigh-level intervention such as compulsorypurchase. Each solution can work very well, butjust as a paracetamol pill won’t cure a broken leg,the solution has to be matched to the diagnosis ofthe problem. It’s probably not necessary for everylocal authority to be able to offer every solution.Some solutions are specific to certain housingmarkets and others may only be useful in order tomeet certain types of housing need. But theunderstanding you have gained about what andwhy properties are empty should guide you to thetypes of solutions that are necessary for yourhousing market.

Every local authority engaged in work to bringempty homes back into use should aim to be ableto offer more than one solution to empty homes.Experience from successful local authorities hasshown that being able to offer a broad flexiblerange of solutions to owners of empty homesachieves greater success than attempting to usethe same solution for every property and everyproperty owner. A local authority offering a largemenu of solutions is likely to be able to tacklemore empty homes and have a greater success rate than one offering a narrow menu.

The range of solutions detailed here is broad butnot all-encompassing. These solutions can beadapted for local circumstances and of course localauthorities may innovate new ways of gettingempty homes back into use. The spectrum ofoptions open to local authorities range from thelight touch of encouraging property owners tomake use of services that are already available inthe market through to the heavy approach offorcibly taking ownership of a property. In almostall cases the most successful approach is likely tobe the lightest one that works.

part 2. prescription

Changing the ownership of an empty property hasa strong causal relationship with it being broughtback into use. After all how many purchaserswould be willing to buy a property only to leave it empty?

It stands to reason therefore that a healthyhousing market where property is bought and sold easily is likely to have fewer empty properties.Intervention from the local authority to encouragethe market to work more effectively is likely tobe beneficial.

helping owners sell their property

interpretation of surveys


Over 25,000 properties are sold in more than1,000 property auctions every year in the UK.Auctions are a quick and decisive way of selling;once the hammer has fallen, a binding contract ofsale is established. It can be a much quicker wayof selling than using an estate agent. One of thegreat advantages is that auctions have a targetedaudience made up of developers, cash buyers,investors and portfolio landlords who may wellhave different requirements to prospectivehomeowners buying at an estate agent. The veryissues that make empty properties unattractive tohomeowners may be appealing to these buyers.

Look through any property auction catalogue and you will see many of the lots (properties) are indeed vacant. An estimated 10,000 emptyproperties are sold this way every year. With this track record and their client group it makessense to see how you can make best use ofproperty auctions.

There are many property auctioneers some ofthem are household names like Halifax, Savills and Allsop who operate nationally and runauctions featuring properties across the wholecountry. Other auctioneers are small localoperations and will feature properties from aregion or even just one town. A complete list ofproperty auctioneers can be found on the EmptyHomes Agency’ website:www.emptyhomes.com/resources/goodpractice

Auctioneers publish a catalogue a few weeksbefore the auction. This gives details of all theproperties that it expects to be available. Inpractice some properties are removed andoccasionally some properties are added before the auction itself. Those interested in bidding can visit the properties in advance and carry out a survey. Auctions are held at centrally locatedvenues, often hotels. Anybody is free to attend.

Look for the success rates of different auctionhouses. They vary between 60 and 90 per cent.And lastly look for the fees, these vary too, butdon’t forget that a good auction house thatachieves a good sales price will be better value for the client even if its fees are higher.

The seller is normally charged a fee by theauctioneer, this covers a proportion of the cost ofmarketing the property and running the auction.This fee has to be paid even if the property is notsold. In addition if the property is sold the sellerpays a commission to the auctioneer in much thesame way an estate agent does. Charges aresimilar to estate agents’ fees, an average perhapsbeing 2.5 per cent. In addition most auctioneerscharge a small buyers’ fee that is paid by the buyerif they are the successful bidder.

When the hammer falls at an auction, itestablishes agreement of a binding contractbetween buyer and seller. The buyer must pay 10 percent of the total sale price of the propertybefore leaving the auction house, and willnormally have to pay off the remainder within28 days.

using property auctioneersMost land and property is sold through estateagents. And in the main they do a very good jobof keeping the property market moving. Mostpeople looking to buy a property start by checkingthe local high street estate agents.

These literally provide a shop window for the localproperty market. For most, property estate agents provide a good route to achieving a sale. However there can sometimes be some problemswhen it comes to marketing some types of empty properties.

Many empty properties are in poor condition and don’t look attractive to potential purchasers.Scruffy properties take longer and are moredifficult to sell to the general buyer. Propertiesin poor condition can be difficult to secure a

mortgage on. Consequently some estate agentswill not be interested in marketing some emptyproperties. Others will do so but not advertise itheavily. To increase the chances of successful salesof empty properties it is important for the localauthority to understand the local housing marketand how estate agents operate within it so that they can give useful advice to empty property owners.

Most estate agents are to some extent nicheproviders. Traditional estate agents specialise in ageographical area, but others, especially on-lineagents, target a particular market segment; forexample country cottages, large houses, or smallflats. Some of these niche players can be wellsuited to selling empty properties. For example:some specialise in property for developers orenthusiastic DIYers:

Renovate Alerts: www.renovatealerts.com

Pick up a Property: www.pickupaproperty.com

There is also a web-based service: Empro.co.ukthat was set up by local authorities specifically to market privately owned empty homes. It isavailable for all local authorities to join. There areno fees for empty property owners or potentialpurchasers, but an annual fee is charged to thelocal authority:

Empro: www.empro.co.uk

There is also a large industry of agents whomarket land for the self-build market. Much of theland they advertise is in fact just empty properties.For example:

Plotsearch: www.buildstore.co.uk/findingland

Plotfinder www.plotfinder.net

Plotbrowser: www.plotbrowser.com

Building Plot: www.building-plot.org.uk

Property Spy: www.propertyspy.com

It’s a good idea to find out what estate agentsoperate in your area , contact them and find out what types of properties they market. This sort of local knowledge is essential if you aregoing to be able to offer useful advice to emptyproperty owners.

using estate agents


• Find out which estate agents and auctioneersoperate in your area and establish what types of property they specialise in marketing.

• If there are few or no local estate agents willingto market empty properties you may want toconsider national operators. Contact them andestablish whether they are operating in your area and what terms and conditions they offerto owners.

• If the market is not offering the services youneed you could consider setting up your ownservice or joining Empro.co.uk

• Compile a list of those organisations who arewilling to market and sell empty properties andinclude it in your information pack for emptyproperty owners.

• Keep an open dialogue with estate agents andlocal auctioneers; the property market andconsequently the industries operating within it can change quickly.

what you can do


A very direct method of getting an empty propertysold is for the council to buy it. Councils maypurchase properties for a number of reasons, butas a method of returning empty properties to use,it is usually only considered where the market hasbeen given the opportunity to work and has failed.There are of course powers to enable localauthorities to compulsorily purchase property andland, but there is little point using the power if theowner is prepared to sell it voluntarily. Indeed, asyou will see later in this guidebook in order to usecompulsory purchase you need to be able to offeran option for the owner to sell it to the localauthority voluntarily.

The two potential obstacles with agreed purchaseare cost and getting everybody to agree. A localauthority has a duty of care towards owners ofproperties and cannot exploit owners and secureunreasonably low prices. In other words you needan independent open market valuation of theproperty and proceed on that basis. The followingcase study from Ipswich shows how the councilachieved success by introducing two independentorganisations a home improvement agency and anestate agent to broker the deal. This independencegave confidence to the owners and no doubthelped resolve a very tricky case.

council agreed purchase


Ealing, sometimes called the queen of the suburbs,is a leafy residential area in West London and oneof the most popular parts of the capital forhomeowners and property investors. It is perhapsan archetypal high housing demand area. Despitethis there are properties that are hard to sell;around 2,000 of them are empty. One of thesewas owned by David who inherited a onebedroom flat from a friend. The flat had alreadybeen empty for a couple of years after theprevious owner had emigrated. David was unsurewhat to do with the flat. It was in poor conditionand he thought it was unsaleable withoutrefurbishment. The property stayed empty for fourmore years. It deteriorated further, was vandalisedand rubbish dumped in the garden.

Neighbours complained to the council about whatthey considered to be an eyesore. The emptyproperty officer got in touch with David andpersuaded him to sell the property. He found anestate agent willing to market it. Property in Ealingwas selling very quickly at the time and the estateagent was able to generate quite a lot of interestin David’s flat. After a month a sale was agreed.Unfortunately, the mortgage lender’s survey foundlots of problems and a mortgage offer was onlymade with a hefty retention. The buyer was nolonger able to afford the property and the sale fellthrough. Over the next few months two moresales fell through. The estate agent eventuallydecided the property was not for them and partedcompany with David.

The empty property officer had kept in touch withDavid, and seeing that things weren’t working outwith the estate agent suggested Empro. Thewebsite was marketed at developers, many ofwhom were cash buyers. Once listed on thewebsite the property attracted a lot of interest.One developer who was able to buy the propertywithout the need for a mortgage bought theproperty. He renovated it and leased it to ahousing association.

in demand but not saleable This pair of semi-detached houses was built in theearly 1900s on one of the main roads into Ipswich.It’s probably fair to say that neither house hadreceived much in the way of investment ormaintenance over the years and as theyapproached their hundredth birthday they were in a sorry state.

A large local portfolio landlord owned the lefthand house. He had let the property for manyyears on a fairly low rent; when tenants left in1999 he found the house to be in too poor a stateto re-let.

The right hand house was owned and occupied bythe Wilson family. They had bought the propertymany years ago. They were painfully aware of theproperties’ poor and declining state but wereunable to afford repairs. They had made aninsurance claim but this was unsuccessful.

The houses were built on a sloping site andsubsidence had caused the back additions of bothproperties to move away from the main parts ofthe house. Large cracks appeared running up therear walls. The roof of the empty house began toleak and damp patches started to appear on thedividing wall in the Wilson’s house. Plant life in the garden started to get out of control and thefront of the house began to disappear under ablanket of ivy, blocking the gutters and causingmore dampness.

Efforts to resolve the problems never got very far.Structural repairs would only be possible if bothowners agreed on a joint refurbishment scheme.The landlord made an offer to buy the otherhouse, but this was unsuccessful. With no otherplans in mind he just left the house to rot. Overthe next few years a series of squatters lived in thehouse. But by 2004 the property had deterioratedfurther. The squatters had had enough too andthey moved out voluntarily. In late 2004 theWilson’s approached the council and asked forhelp. They were becoming increasingly upset bythe condition of the empty house, but also veryworried about their own house.

The council surveyed both properties and foundthem both to be unfit for human habitation. They boarded up the empty property to preventintruders getting in. In order to decide what to do they used the Neighbourhood RenewalAssessment (NRA) model to evaluate the optionsand decide what was the most satisfactory course of action.

They obtained some quotations for building worksand found the costs of refurbishment to beexorbitant. In order to ensure that the Wilson’sviews were properly represented the council askedlocal home improvement agency Care and Repairto act as the liaison point. The Wilson’s appointedthe home improvement agency to act on theirbehalf and represent them in their dealings withthe council. The conclusion of The NRA was thatrepair was not a viable option; it didn’t stack upfinancially and none of the interested partiesparticularly wanted it to happen anyway. Thepotential options were to demolish or compulsorilypurchase the properties.

Negotiations with both owners began and itbecame clear that a voluntary outcome waspossible. The council decided that it would beeasier and more helpful to both owners, butparticularly the Wilson family, if they persued thisrather than a statutory route. The councilappointed a local firm of estate agents to brokerthe purchase of the properties. This gave bothowners reassurance that the sale was fair andindependent and ensured that they were offeredopen market value for the properties. The councilsuccessfully completed the purchase of bothproperties in 2005 and re-housed the Wilsons into permanent social housing.

The council demolished both properties and has negotiated sale of the land to a local RSLwho will build two new properties on the site for social renting.

brokering a deal


One of the most common reasons for propertiesbeing left empty, is that the owners can't affordthe cost of repairs to make them habitable. A fairly obvious way of overcoming this obstacle is for local authorities to offer grants. This is awell-tried technique and can be very effective if somewhat expensive.

Local authorities have been given the freedom bythe Government to set their own grant levels,priorities and conditions. These should be set outwithin the local authority’s housing assistancepolicy. Where empty properties are considered tobe a priority by the local authority it is perhaps notunreasonable to expect that there should beprovision for assistance to empty property ownerswithin the housing assistance policy. Surveysregularly show grants to be the most popularservice local authorities offer to empty propertyowners. But they are not without their problems.

There is a theory that over-generous grants havethe potential to incentivise owners to leaveproperty empty in order to qualify. Some localauthorities deal with this by applying qualifyingconditions, for example stipulating that theproperty must have been empty for six months.

A further problem is that grants can causeresponsibility for the property to be shifted awayfrom the owner to the local authority. This can beexacerbated with generous 100 per cent grantsand when the grant is linked to a leasing scheme.Owners can be left feeling that the disrepair is not their problem any more. This isn't helpful inachieving a healthy private rented market.

The other problem of course is that grants areexpensive. Most refurbishment schemes cost manythousands of pounds. Funding grants can be avery expensive method of returning emptyproperties to use on a unit cost basis

A well thought out strategic plan will set grants at a level that matches the subsidy to the cost ofmarket failure. In other words, the amount it takesto make a non-viable refurbishment scheme viable.

Local authorities have the freedom to applywhatever conditions they think reasonable to agrant. A common one is to link the grant with aleasing scheme such as private sector leasing (PSL).This can be a good way of increasing theattractiveness of a PSL scheme. But if localproperty owners are not interested in PSL, linking it to grants is only going to make grantsunpopular too.

Another common reason for properties being leftempty is that some property owners lack theconfidence to organise renovation works.Surveying and architects firms are clearly able tohelp in many cases but it has to be said that someempty property owners don't make the mostattractive clients. One way of assisting is for thelocal authorities to provide services to helporganise building work by employing contractors.Local home improvement agencies are already inexistence throughout the country and cover mostlocal authority areas. Most are small not-for-profitsurveying businesses that work on behalf ofhomeowners employing and supervisingcontractors. Most were set up, and indeed stillexist, to provide assistance to low income andvulnerable households who are unable to use theprivate market. Only a small number of homeimprovement agencies offer services to landlordsor non-owner occupier property owners. In manycases this is because their main funding stream isthrough the "Supporting People" fund operatedthrough local authority social services departmentsthat may judge that these types of propertyowners do not meet their criteria.

It is however possible for home improvementagencies to set up specialist wings, and localauthorities are able to set up specialist homeimprovement agencies. These can provide anumber of services. These can ultimately becomeone-stop shops for owners of empty propertiesproviding services such as:

• advice on options for redesigning and renovatingthe property

• advice on grants loans and other sources of funding

• links to end users such as PSL schemes and managing agents

• plans and specification service

• tendering for contractors

• approved list of contractors

• supervising contractors whilst works are underway

• organising payment of contractors.

For an example of a home improvement agency inaction see the Ipswich case study on page 16.

home improvement agencies grants

In some housing markets the value of derelictproperty is not sufficiently high for owners to useit as security for a loan to pay for renovation.Major lenders will usually only lend up to 70 percent of the value of the owners equity. Even inmarkets where property values are high, theserequirements can make schemes like flats aboveshops seem impossible to finance. One way tohelp is for the local authority to underwrite alarger loan during the development period. Oncedevelopment has been completed the propertyvalue and the owner’s equity should haveincreased and be sufficient for the owner to takeon the security of the loan.

Local authorities have the authority to enter intounderwriting agreements like this under thegeneral consents in section 24 of the LocalGovernment Act 1988. Where projects runsmoothly the costs are simply minor administrativecosts. But clearly the local authority is putting itselfin a position of risk should individual projects notbe completed, overrun in cost or the final propertyvalue not increase sufficiently. The risk is obviouslyless during markets with increasing property prices.

To reduce its risk it is a good idea for the localauthority to obtain valuations of the property in itsexisting state and an estimated valuation of it onceworks are complete. The local authority can alsotake out a legal charge over the property; this willgive them the ability to enforce the sale of theproperty to recover costs should the developmentnot get completed.

underwriting private loans



A much discussed method for local authorities toassist with the costs of property refurbishment ismaking loans. This has the obvious advantage thatthe local authority can recycle its money and assistmore properties with the same money. In practicemany local authorities have found that take uprates are low and set up costs high. In researchwork for this booklet many local authoritiesreported that they offered loans to assist ownersreturn empty homes to use, but not one reporteda recent case where a local authority loan hadbeen successfully used to bring an empty homeback into use. In part this may be because of thecurrent easy availability of low cost loans fromhigh street lenders. Or it may be that councilconditions attached to loans make themunattractive to empty homeowners. It is temptingto think that this is a service that is already wellcatered for by the market and there is no need forcouncils to provide loans services. However, there is a strong case for the opposite view: some emptyhome owners have insufficient equity as loansecurity and some may have poor credit ratings:meaning that they are unable to borrow moneyprivately. it is also quite possible that theavailability of loans from high street lenders maychange in future meaning local authority loansbecome more popular.

Local authorities offering loans and equity releasepackages are exempt from regulation, but requiredby the Department of Communities and LocalGovernment (DCLG) mortgage sales guidance toprovide a similar standard of service to thatrequired of private lenders.

In practice this involves providing independentfinancial advice and a number of other financialsafeguards to clients.

Four potential models are:

recycled grants Local authorities offer grants in the normal waybut a condition of the grant is that it is repaid infull on the sale of the property. This is an attractiveproduct for many, but offers little certainty to thelocal authority on when they might see repayment.

equity releaseThe local authority provides the property ownerwith a sum of money; in exchange the localauthority takes a share in the value of theproperty. The local authority receives the value of its share when the property is sold.

repayment loansThe local authority lends the property owner asum of money to repair the property. The money isthen repaid in monthly sums by the owner or in alump sum at a pre-agreed date.

front fundingThe local authority caries out works to theproperty itself at its own cost. The property is then let by the council or a nominated partner.The local authority deducts repayments from rental income.

loans and equity release

Many empty property owners say they would like tobring their property into use to rent it out but lackthe skills or the time to be able to manage theprocess. Private sector leasing schemes (PSL) help byproviding that management service. Local authoritieshave for many years procured privately ownedhomes on short-term leases to meet demand forsocial housing. This provides local authority with a supply of temporary housing enabling localauthorities to reduce homelessness and provides theproperty owner with a letting and propertymanagement service. In many cases PSL procureproperties directly from the private rented market,offering landlords with ready to let properties analternative to private renting. However many schemesdirectly target empty homes offering the owner anincentive to get the property back into use.

These schemes have a number of benefits, not onlydo they help create additional housing supply, theydo so without the local authority having tocompete with private tenants for existing ready to let properties.

Some local authorities operate PSL schemes directly;others do so in a partnership with housingassociations. Although rare, there is no reason why aprivate managing agent couldn’t carry it out.Whoever carries out the management the tenantsare local authority tenants and are housed on a non-secure occupation agreement, not a tenancy.This gives the local authority the ability to hand backthe property with vacant possession at the end ofthe lease.

private sector leasing


The Royal borough of Kensington and Chelseacontains some of the most desirable and expensivehousing in the country. Its elegant Georgianterraces and squares provide homes toambassadors, royalty, the rich and the famous. It seems an unlikely place to look for housingproblems. But under the surface there is localiseddeprivation, homelessness and chronic affordabilityproblems. Amazingly there are also hundreds ofempty homes.

Some of the factors that make Kensington andChelsea’s housing so desirable can also be thesource of its problems. Large and old propertiesare difficult to heat and difficult to adapt. Abouttwo thirds of the houses in the borough were builtbefore the First World War, most are terraced, andover three quarters have been subdivided into selfcontained flats. Many of the houses are listed or inconservation areas. With few cavity walls or roofsto insulate, and heritage objections to double-glazing, the task of making these homes energyefficient is a challenge that few have achieved.

The Flagship Home was a project that sought toovercome these challenges and create efficient andaffordable homes out of a neglected and partlyempty house in multiple occupation. It was a large5-storey property in Knightsbridge originally builtas a single-family house but later subdivided into a series of flats and bedsits. It was in poorcondition, the roof leaked, there werecondensation problems, the heating was expensive to run and didn’t work properly.

The Council brought together a partnership oforganisations that were prepared to help fund acomplete refurbishment and improvement of the house. Although ostensibly a demonstrationproject for retro fitting energy efficiencyimprovements, the project shows how a diverserange of funding can be brought to assist gettingan empty property back into use. The combinationof the partners provided the opportunity to dosomething really special. They convinced theowner, that although he would still need to findthe majority of the money to pay for the works, he would achieve a far superior result byincorporating energy improvements. The councilapplied for the grants on the owner’s behalf fromenergy efficiency grant providers such as LondonEnergy, the Energy Saving Trust, heritage fundsand also contributed some funding of it is own.Grants were obtained to fund:

• dry lining of all external walls

• replacement double glazed windows

• a new fully insulated roof

• solar water heating

• high efficiency condensing boilers with multiple controls

• heat recovery ventilation system

• “A” rated kitchen appliances

• low energy lighting system.

The outcome is a property that proves that old houses can be energy efficient. It alsodemonstrates how grants from diverse sources can be used to produce good quality housing out of empty property warmer drier healthier and considerably more pleasant place to live then before. Not surprisingly the property is now fully occupied.

the flagship home


One of the reasons some properties becomeempty is because private landlords are unable tofind tenants. There is the potential for sharedinterest here; local authorities often face theopposite problem, lots of people looking forhomes, but not enough properties to offer them. A number of local authorities have systems inplace that try to match up the two.

In effect the council becomes a letting agent,finding tenants and managing re-lets. The landlordhowever has full responsibility for management ofthe property and collection of rent.


The word partnership is often overused, but inPlymouth City Council’s case it entirely appropriate.The council have set up a group of eight localhousing associations. Each serve different client groups and have a slightly different set of core competencies. The council take proposednew empty property schemes to the partnershipfor discussion.

This scheme in Durnford Street in the historicStonehouse area of Plymouth particularly suitedSarson Housing Association’s development andfund raising skills. The property had been derelictfor many years and was in need of majorrenovation. It was a listed building within aconservation area which meant that strict rulesapplied to the design, building materials andstandard of workmanship.

Inevitably this meant it was an expensive project.Indeed this was one of the reasons that theproperty had been left empty for so long. Sarsonsuccessfully applied for Temporary Social HousingGrant from the Housing Corporation for theproject and with the assistance of the localheritage group the property was restored andconverted into a maisonette and two flats. As acondition of the scheme the owner assigned afive-year lease on the completed property toSarson Housing Association. Plymouth City councilhas full nomination rights to the property and itnow houses three local families.

a partnership approach making the most of landlord skills

tenant finding schemes

John had lived in this three-bedroom semi inHarrow for many years but in 1998 he was takenill and went into residential care. By 2001 itbecame clear that he was not going to be cominghome for a long time and he started to considerwhat to do about his house. With the help of hissocial worker John approached Harrow’s emptyproperty officer. He was offered a range of optionsfrom selling, assistance with renovation through toleasing packages. He wanted to retain ownershipof the house, but a survey carried out by thecouncil showed that years of standing empty hadtaken their toll. The house was in poor conditionand would need a large amount of moneyspending on it before it could be rented out,money that John didn’t have. After a couple ofyears of deliberations John’s health took a turn forthe worse and it became clear that he would notbe coming home. He decided to sell the house.With the council’s help the property was put onthe market and sold.

A local landlord, Michael bought the property. Heintended to renovate it so that his children mightlive in it when they grew up. Michael was lookingfor an interim option that would see the houserenovated and occupied until his family needed it.Harrow council explored the options with him andwere able to offer him a grant package linked totheir direct lettings scheme.

Harrow offers both direct lettings scheme andprivate sector leasing schemes (PSL). In bothschemes, the council provides tenants and retainsnomination rights over the property for theduration of the scheme.The main distinction beingthat with PSL a housing association manages theproperty. In this case direct lettings appeared to bemore appropriate. Michael’s skills and experienceas a landlord meant that he was able and willingto manage the property himself. But as a smalllandlord he found it more difficult to find tenantsthan larger landlords who were able to spendmoney on letting agents or marketing.

Michael was offered a grant that contributedabout two thirds of the renovation costs. Acondition of the grant was that he signed up tothe council’s direct lettings scheme for 15 years.The council recorded a charge against the propertyat the Land Registry so that the grant could berecovered if the property was sold or the landlordbroke the agreement. The house has now beenrenovated and is occupied by a family from thecouncil’s housing register.

The explanation behind some properties beingempty is that they are awaiting development ordemolition; however just because there is anexplanation, it doesn’t follow that nothing can bedone. Properties that are empty for even a shortperiod can be used to provide a form of temporary housing.

The process of planning and organising large scalebuilding works can take a long time. In many casesthe future of the building is unclear and the lack ofcertainty over its future is enough to discourageanybody form using it.

Buildings can stay empty in this sort of state of limbofor years. There are however housing associationsand housing co-ops that specialise in making use ofbuildings in this situation. Short-life associationsusually pay no rent for the building but cover alltheir own costs such as utility connections, andmaintenance costs. The advantage to the owner isthat the property is occupied, reducing security costsand removing the poor image problem associatedwith leaving a large property empty.

short life housing

24a cure for empty homes23 a cure for empty homes

Many people in the housing sector were deterredfrom using short life as an alternative by theBruton ruling in 2000. Mr Bruton was a short-lifetenant in Lambeth, who had been accommodatedin a property for a long period of time. Theproperty was identified for redevelopment, and acourt declared that he had rights because he had a secured tenancy agreement. Fully mutual co-operatives cannot give secured housingtenancies and can only give excluded contractualtenancies. If Mr Bruton had had such a contractual tenancy, the court would not have been allowedthis discretion.

There are currently 25 members of the Short LifeForum in London and Brent Community Housing(BCH) Association is one of the largest, with 320short-life properties.

In the past some co-operatives have underminedthe principle of short life by not giving propertiesback at the end of the agreed tenancy. It isimperative, though, that short life will only workas a principle if it is respected on all sides that the property will be vacated at the end of a certain period.

The benefit of short life for the tenant is that theyare offered better accommodation than they mightpreviously have had in bed and breakfastaccommodation or other temporaryaccommodation, and the rents are substantiallylower than they might pay in other areas of social housing.

In addition, short-life properties provide aneffective solution to the way that empty propertiesattract crime and associated problems. In manyrespects short-life accommodation can be seen asinfinitely preferable to boarding up a property andit attracts an income stream.

It is interesting to note that of the BCH tenants,75 per cent are economically active. They havemade a big play recently in trying to attract keyworkers, and have succeeded in attracting staffsuch as cleaners and porters, who provide essentialpublic services.

Short-life accommodation need not be sub-standard housing, for example, BCH has clearstandards for their properties and the onlydifference from other social housing is thedecoration and fittings. Essentially short life is basicaccommodation to a decent standard but with lowrents and a fixed time period. For each new tenantof BCH it is clearly spelt out to them that theirtenancy is of a temporary nature.

In many respects ‘short life’ is a misleading namefor this type of accommodation; it could besuggested that a name like ‘guaranteed temporaryaccommodation’ might be a more appropriatedescription of this type of accommodation.

brent community housing

The most common reason for people to object toempty properties in their neighbourhood is the visualimpact on the area. This is an entirely reasonablereason for complaint. Individual empty properties ifleft un-tackled can be the beginning of the declineof an area. There is plenty of evidence that theyattract petty crime, and research carried out in 2003by Hometrack suggested that they causeneighbouring property prices to be devalued by upto 18 per cent.

Two pieces of legislation allow local authorities totackle these problems directly.

Section 79 of the Building 1984 Act empowerslocal authorities to deal with ruinous and dilapidatedbuildings or structures and neglected sites 'in theinterests of amenity' and section 215 of the Townand Country Planning Act 1990 allows localauthorities to deal with unsightly land or the externalappearance of property.

Both powers allow local authorities to serve noticeon the owner of a property requiring that he oraddress the problems. Owners can comply byrestoring the property or by demolishing it. It issometimes possible for the owner to comply byimproving the external appearance of the property,but leave it still uninhabitable. Further advice onusing section 215 can be found in the DCLG bestpractice guidance:http://www.dclg.gov.uk/pub/468/TownandCountryPlanningAct1990Section215BestPracticeGuidancePDF508Kb_id1144468.pdf

unsightly property

Local authorities have a range of powers at theirdisposal to require owners to improve theirproperties. None of these powers extend toforcing the owner to bring the property back intouse, but when used correctly they can help dealwith the problems caused by empty properties orbe part of a process that encourages the owner tobring the property back into use.

As the case study from Bristol shows one of theeffects of well-executed statutory action can be to cause the owner take some responsibility fortheir property. Having spent some money on theirproperty a natural reaction is for the owner to seehow they can derive some value out of what theyhave spent. The two best ways of doing this are tosell or let the property. In most cases the owner ismore likely to do this if they are encouraged to doso by the local authority.

Enforcement should be seen as a step on the wayto getting the property to use. Just as a gooddoctor wouldn’t abandon a patient after treatingone symptom of an illness the local authorityshould try to maintain a working relationship withthe property owner so that they can help themtake the next step to bringing their empty propertyinto use.

improving the condition of empty propertiesThe usual agreement between the owner and the

association is a licence that gives the owner vacantpossession whenever they need it. There is veryrarely any problem with short-life associations givingvacant possession when requested.

Most short-life associations are cooperatives,members tend to be single people or couples whoare on low incomes but economically active. Poolingtheir skills and money enables them to live in housesthat would otherwise be unaffordable to them.Many associations are skilled in carrying outtemporary repairs and alterations to makeunpromising looking buildings habitable, even if onlyfor a few months.

Generally short-life housing associations are lookingfor large buildings where the economies of scalemake short-life cost effective. Short-life associationscan often make use of empty commercial as well asresidential buildings.

In order to be an option the local authority needs towork with the association and be flexible with anytemporary planning permission that is needed. Insome cases the standards of amenities and conditiondo not meet private sector housing standards thatlocal authorities enforce. Offering advice and help onmeans of escape form fire for example can behelpful, inflexible adherence to standards oncondition less so.


There are also a number of powers available tolocal authorities under the Planning (ListedBuilding and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

These enable local authorities to require owners to carry out works to prevent deterioration andrestore listed buildings and buildings inconservation areas.

Derelict buildings can be hazardous to neighboursand passers by and they provide temptingplaygrounds for children who can easily cometo harm.

Local authorities have a number of powers torequire owners to make their property safe or tocarry out work directly themselves.

dangerous buildings listing buildings

Enforced sale is actually a procedure that allowslocal authorities to recover debt, but a number oflocal authorities have cleverly used it as a way ofgetting empty properties back into use.

The power dates back to the Law of Property Act1925. This gives local authorities the power to sellproperties in order to release the money tied up inthe value of the property. This enables them torecover money they are owed. Where the ownerfails to repay the debt secured on their propertythe power enables the local authority to force thesale of the property in order to recover the debt.

The property doesn’t need to be empty for you to use it, but enforcing the sale of an occupiedproperty is bound to be more complicated becauseyou have an occupier to consider. It is usedpredominantly on empty homes

Debts are secured on properties by the localauthority making a local land charge or making acaution on the land registry certificate at HM LandRegistry. Once the charge is in place the localauthority can pursue the enforced sale withoutfurther legal recourse. The local authority simplyneeds to invoice the owner for the outstandingdebt. If the invoice isn’t paid they need to serve aformal notice (section 103 Law of Property Act1925) giving the owner 12 weeks to pay. If thenotice isn’t complied with the property can besold. A word of warning though not all debts canbe registered as a land charge. Some, such asCouncil Tax debts, are personal debts and cannotbe charged against a property.

Work in default costs can be charged as a landcharge against the property where works werecarried out in default of the following notices:

• Section 59 Building Act 1984 - requiring unblocking of defective drains

• Housing Act 2004

• Section 4 Prevention of Damage by Pests Act1949 - requiring owner to deal with or preventinfestations of vermin

• Section 61 Public Health Act 1961

• Section 79 Building Act 1984

• relevant sections of the Housing Act 1985.

In some cases, work in default costs can becharged as a land charge against the property, forexample, where works were carried out in defaultof the following notices:

• Section 80 Environmental Protection Act 1990 -requiring nuisance be abated

• Section 215 Town and Country Planning Act1990 - requiring improvement of unsightly buildings

• all sections of the EPA 1990

• local government acts various.

Work in default costs cannot be charged as a landcharge against the property where works werecarried out in default of: Section 29 LocalGovernment (miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 -boarding up empty property

On debts that are not land charged, but persondebts like Council Tax debt, the LA can apply tothe County Court to award an interim chargingorder. If the Court gives a favorable judgment thelocal authority can apply for a final charging orderand order the sale of the property.

Enforced Sale can be used for debts that are up to12 years old. Although it is better to act soonerrather than later if there is a dispute, it does notenhance the local authorities case if they did nottake any action for several years. Theoretically this procedure can be used for debt howeversmall. Practically however, small debts are morelikely to be repaid so you won’t get to theenforced sale stage. Additionally if they are paid,there is the risk of the local authority appearingheavy-handed. You can imagine the potentialnewspaper headlines!

Whilst it is not recommend that you go looking foropportunities to serve notices on empty propertiessimply as a way of initiating a later enforced sale,it is worth bearing in mind the possible futureoutcomes if you have already decided on astatutory solution.

enforced sale

section 77 of the building act 1984 enableslocal authorities to deal with buildings that itconsiders to be dangerous. It can apply to aMagistrates’ Court for an order requiring theowner to make the building safe or demolish it. If the owner fails to comply, the Council can carryout the works in default.

section 78 of the building act 1984 allows localauthorities to deal with buildings that pose animmediate danger. This emergency measure allowsthe local authority to carry out remedial worksitself without giving the owner the opportunity to deal with it himself. The local authority is onlyentitled to carry out works that remove the danger.

section 29 of the local government(miscellaneous provisions) act 1982 allows localauthorities to carry out works to an unoccupiedbuilding to prevent unauthorised entry or toprevent it from becoming a danger to publichealth. 48 hours notice is needed unless the worksare required immediately. Costs are recoverable.

sections 79-81 of the environmentalprotection act 1990 allows the local authority to require abatement of statutory nuisances. Theterm statutory nuisance applies to a range ofproblems that might arise from empty homes,including accumulations of rubbish or dampnessaffecting neighbouring properties. The act allowslocal authorities to serve an abatement notice onthe owner of the premises requiring works toabate the nuisance. If the notice is not compliedwith the local authority can carry out works in default.


A two storey end of terrace house had been leftempty in a main road leading into Bristol citycentre for more than 10 years, and it showed.Vandals had smashed the windows, graffiti wassprayed on the walls and the garden was filledwith fly-tipped rubbish.

Not surprisingly neighbours were unhappy withwhat had become a local eyesore. The propertywas on a conspicuous place on the corner of abusy road junction and was seen by thousands ofpeople every day.

It belonged to a local portfolio landlord who hadbought the property many years before. He had letand managed it many times over, but for somereason in the early 1990s the tenants left, andnobody else moved in. Over the next few years theproperty deteriorated. It became obvious that theproperty was empty and vandals took advantage.The local residents association petitioned thecouncil to do something about the property.

Bristol City Council contacted the owner to findout what had gone wrong. But the owner didn’tsee that anything was wrong at all and appearedhappy to have the property empty: it wasn’tbringing in any income, but the capital value ofthe property was increasing and it wasn’t costinghim anything.

The council decided that the best approach wouldbe to break the rather comfortable status quo forthe owner. They served a notice requiring him torestore the property. They chose to use the powersin Section 79 of the Building Act 1984 that enablelocal authorities to deal with ruinous anddilapidated buildings. The owner realised thatdoing nothing was no longer an option. Heembarked on a complete refurbishment of thehouse eventually costing him more than £50,000.Soon after completion he rented the property out again.

removing the status quo as an option


Where a local authority has tried to facilitate aprivate sale and this and other methods ofreturning the property to use have failed,compulsory purchase might be considered.

Compulsory Purchase is perhaps the strongestpower available to tackle empty homes. It is nothowever a power that rests with the localauthority. A local authority may apply to theSecretary of State for an order to be made.

The local authority will need to demonstrate thatthere is a compelling case in the public interest forthe property to be compulsorily purchased, andthat other methods of returning the property touse have been tried and have failed. In most casesthis means that compulsory purchase is a methodof last resort.

In addition, the local authority will need to showthat it has clear intentions for the use of theproperty/land, and be able to show that it has thenecessary resources available to go through withthe CPO.

Legislation in England and Wales gives localauthorities the power to acquire land and propertycompulsorily where the owner is not willing to sellby agreement. Section 17 Housing Act 1985 is ageneral enabling piece of law that allows a localauthority to acquire under-used or ineffectivelyused property/land etc. for residential purposes if there is a general housing need in the area.

compulsory purchase


The property located in North Manchester is a midterraced large 3 storey Victorian property in a rowof 10 other properties, all occupied and in goodoverall condition. Several complaints had beenreceived from surrounding residents regarding thecondition and the effect the property was havingon the surrounding area. The property had anumber of local land charges attached to it.

Whilst superficially the property appeared empty,on investigation it was found to be occupied by itselderly owner. The owner, who was not in aposition to maintain the property for a variety ofreasons, occupied a very small part of the houseand did not venture beyond the ground floor. The two other floors were infested with pigeons,windows were missing and the roof had gaping holes.

During the investigation, we learned that theowner would leave the property at first light andreturn late in the evening after visiting a relative,spending as little time in the property as possible.

After making contact with the owner we foundthat he had no desire to remain in the propertyand actually welcomed the opportunity to disposeof it and rid himself of what had become a liability.The property was sold under the Enforced SaleProcedure at open auction and has since been fullyrefurbished and is now owner occupied.

The owner has now relocated to accommodationmore suited to his needs. The proceeds from thesale were used to clear all the outstanding chargesregistered against the property, together withassociated costs incurred by enforcing the sale.The remaining balance of £15,000 was refundedto the former owner.

a willing ownerSince 2001 Sheffield City Council has beenrunning a homesteading scheme. This schemeallows individual buyers to purchase empty councilproperties owned by the council at a discount ofup to £12,500 if they agree to spend a set amountof money improving the property.

Each property usually needs at least £5,000spending on repairs and improvements and thereare no grants available to do this work.

Each buyer must:

• improve the property to an agreed standard

• complete the work within two years ofpurchasing the property

• agree to live in the property as their sole andprincipal home

• have access to between £35,000 and £50,000to take part in this scheme

• agree to pay an administration fee of £600 to Sheffield City Council upon purchasing the property

• not sell the property within three years ofpurchasing it.

Since the scheme began in 2001, 19 propertieshave been sold. There has been huge local interestin this scheme. Recent changes to the criteriamean that properties valued at up to £40,000 cannow be considered for homesteading, up from£25,000. However the maximum discountavailable remains £12,500.

The council have also extended the scheme tomarket privately owned empty homes. The councilpurchased privately owned empty homes and thenmarketed them for sale under similar terms to thecouncil owned properties.

homesteading in sheffield

Homesteading is a term derived from thenineteenth century westward colonisation ofAmerica. The Homesteading Act allowedAmericans to claim land provided that they livedon it for at least five years and took care of it.Similar principles apply to the use of the term inthe UK. Some local authorities have disposed oftheir excess empty properties by selling them atvery big discounts but conditions usually applyencouraging the new owners to stay and invest inthe property. The benefit to the local authority isto encourage new people and money into an areathat may be in decline.

homesteading


the threat of compulsory purchasereally does work On a unit cost basis compulsory purchase may well be expensive, but the impact is sometimesharder to measure.

Most cases in which local authorities startcompulsory purchase proceeding are dropped, notbecause it is the wrong course of action butbecause the owner has brought the property backinto use themselves.

However, it can only be used as a last resort. So allother reasonable methods must be tried first. Inaddition section 226 Town and Country PlanningAct 1990 (as amended by section 99 Planning andCompulsory Purchase Act 2004) allows localauthorities to acquire land or buildings ifacquisition will allow improvements orredevelopment to take place (provided theimprovement, development, or redevelopment willcontribute to the promotion or improvement ofeconomic, social or environmental well being). Thispower can be used to acquire empty propertiesthat adversely affect the street scene because oftheir dilapidated condition.

Local authorities that use this legislation say thatthe mere threat works. It forces owners of emptyproperties into making decisions about them.

Whilst doubtless this is true, the converseargument is that it is difficult to engage withowners on other levels once CPO threats aremade, so a local authority pursuing a vigorousCPO program will find it difficult to engage withowners over softer solutions.

Owners of properties that are purchased underCPO have to be compensated for the loss of theirproperty. Compensation is payable by the localauthority to the owner at the open market valueof the property. Additional compensation may bepayable to the owner for severance or injuriousaffection, disturbance and other losses. In practicethese are not due if the owner has been servedwith and failed to comply with certain statutorynotices requiring works to the property.


Great Yarmouth Borough Council has built up anexcellent reputation for its approach tocompulsorily purchasing empty properties. GreatYarmouth is a seaside town on the Norfolk coastand like many seaside towns it has been affectedby the nation’s changing holiday habits. Budgetairlines and cheap package holidays have takentheir toll on the once vibrant British seaside holidayindustry. One of the effects of this has been thedrop in demand for guest houses.

One of these was a large guest house in Nelsonroad. It had been converted from two Victorianhouses and in its prime housed up to 20 guests. Ithad been losing custom for many years, butmanaged to struggle on into the 1990s. Changesin fire regulations however were to prove the finalstraw. The owners were unable to pay for theworks and were forced to close the guest house in1996. The property was sold shortly afterwards.The new owners had plans to convert the propertyback into residential houses, but for one reason oranother work never started. The owners livedmany miles away and appeared to forget aboutthe property. In 2001 arsonists set fire to theproperty and caused extensive damage.

The property was not properly insured and theowners were unable to afford repairs, theyabandoned their conversion plans altogether.

The council made many attempts to startnegotiations with the property owners, butreceived little response. After more than a year oftrying the council decided that it couldn’t wait anylonger. It told the owners that it intended tocompulsory purchase the property. The owners didnot make an objection and the purchase wascompleted relatively quickly. The council sold theproperty to Suffolk Heritage Housing Association,a principal member of Flagship Housing Group.Following intensive renovation work the propertywas restored into two large family houses, they arenow managed by the Housing Association andprovide homes for two local families.

last chance saloon

A large house in Moseley, Birmingham had beenempty for three years.

It was owned by a portfolio landlord who haddeveloped a bit of a habit of leaving his propertiesempty. In 2003 Birmingham City Councilchallenged him about two of them this one andanother in Hall Green. Why was he leaving themempty? The landlord hadn’t got an answer.

The Hall Green property had been empty since1997 and the council started compulsory purchaseproceedings. The owner was incensed andcomplained that the council’s approach wasunwarranted and draconian. However shortlyafterwards the owner let both properties to new tenants.

a threat and a promise

This is a guidebook about bringing empty homesback into use. But nonetheless it is important torecognise that there are homes that in somecircumstances are uneconomic or even undesirableto bring back into use. However just leaving themempty is no solution.

Local authorities have powers that enable them todemolish and clear unwanted homes and makebetter use of the land. Powers under the HousingAct 1985, amended by the 2004 act, allow localauthorities to declare clearance areas and servedemolition orders. Alternatively local authoritiescan use compulsory purchase powers to acquireproperties prior to demolition.

demolition and clearance

Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs)provide a new legislative tool for local authoritiesto tackle privately owned empty homes. Theyprovide some important new powers and aframework that can assist both property ownersand local authorities find a solution that enablesan empty property to be returned to use.

DCLG have published detailed technical guidanceon EDMOs. The following paragraphs are notintended to duplicate the ODPM guidance butprovide further information. The two sets ofguidance should therefore be read together.

empty dwelling management orders

Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs)provide a new legislative tool for local authoritiesto tackle privately owned empty homes. Theyprovide some important new powers and aframework that can assist both property ownersand local authorities find a solution that enablesan empty property to be returned to use.

DCLG have published detailed technical guidanceon EDMOs. The following paragraphs are notintended to duplicate the DCLG guidance butprovide further information. The two sets ofguidance should therefore be read together.

deciding when to use EDMOs


You cannot use an EDMOs unless and until youhave offered other voluntary options to the ownerof the property.

There can be very few circumstances in which anenforced solution to an empty home works betterthan one achieved with the owner’s consent. Inmost cases enforced solutions are more difficult,more expensive and more time consuming thanagreed solutions. It makes very good sensetherefore to explore a wide range of options withthe property owner for bringing the property backinto use.

Only where this has been done and an agreedsolution cannot be found should EDMOs be considered.

This guidance highlights a wide range of possiblesolutions that local authorities might offer. Somesolutions work best in particular situations othershave a broad usage. Successful local authoritiesbuild up a menu of options that they can offer toowners. In each case they offer a selection ofoptions appropriate to the owner. The owner canthen make a choice.

offering voluntary approaches to property owners

A final EDMO allows a local authority to carry outrenovation and maintenance work on the propertysubject to the order. It also allows a local authorityto collect rent and other payment from theoccupant of a property and use it to meet relevantexpenses that the local authority has incurred.

It is important that the local authority calculatesthe income and expenses it is likely to incur inmanaging the property through an EDMO as earlyas possible as this may influence the localauthority’s decision as to whether it would be ableor prepared to use an EDMO.

In some circumstances the expenses incurred by alocal authority may exceed the income. This doesnot preclude a local authority from using anEDMO, but it would mean that it was unable torecover all of its expenses.

is it financially viable?

It is a good idea to find out as much as you canbefore you decide to pursue an interim order. Todo so you need to carry you out a survey of theproperty. If the owner does not permit access theact provides a general right of entry (section 239)that you may be able to use in order to assess theproperty. If you are unable to gain access you canstill go ahead with an EDMO and carry out a fullfinancial appraisal once an interim order has beenapproved. You can then revoke the order if youfind that it is not viable to pursue it.

When calculating the likely costs it is a good ideato add a provisional sum to any estimate of costsof works to allow for unforeseen works,particularly if the property is in poor condition or a complete survey is not possible.

what is the likely cost of putting the dwelling into a habitable condition?

EDMOs are only suitable for long-term emptyproperties: An EDMO can only be used where aproperty has been left empty for 6 months ormore. This is not to say that every property thathas been empty for more than 6 months is asuitable candidate for an EDMOs. There is nothingmagic about the six-month time, it is simply abroad indicator of a problem. In most housingmarkets there should be no need for a property to be left empty.

There are many reasons why properties becomeempty. In most cases the reason is temporary andthe property is brought back into use within ashort time without any need for any local authorityinvolvement. These cases are sometimes referredto as transactional empty properties. Someproperties however become empty and stay empty.These are often referred to as problematic emptyproperties. A local authority’s job is to distinguishbetween the two and target action at the latter group.

A first step to identifying problematic emptyproperties is to identify properties that have beenempty for a long time. You should be able to dothis from information derived from council taxrecords. In most situations it should be possible foran owner to bring an empty property back intouse within a few months without local authorityassistance. Where this has not happened it may beindicative of a problem and it may indicate a casewhere local authority intervention may be helpful. A rough indicator of problematic empty propertiesis where they have been empty for more than 6 months.

The second step is to understand the particularcircumstances of each case. The fact that aproperty has been empty for more than 6 monthsmay not in itself mean that local authorityintervention is necessary. There are many factorsthat may result in a home being empty for manymonths. For example, a refurbishment of a derelicthouse may well take several months to organiseand several more to execute. A privately rentedhouse in an area with a slow housing market maytake several months to re-let. Where an owner hasrecently acquired an empty property eitherthrough purchase or especially through inheritanceit is quite normal for them to take time to appraiseoptions for the property. Where several of thesefactors arise together the property might be emptyfor a long time without there being any need forlocal authority involvement.

It is not simply a case of whether the property isempty, but what progress the owner is making toreturn the property to use.

EDMOs can be useful where the owner has hadthe opportunity to return the property to use andhas failed. For some properties and in somehousing markets 6 months may not be enoughtime, in others it may be plenty.

factors to take into account when deciding whether to use EDMOs

The act sets out a series of circumstances in whichempty properties are accepted from EDMOs. Theseare set out and explained in the DCLG guidancenote on EDMOs. These exceptions apply regardlessof how long the property has been empty. In themain they highlight circumstances in which localauthority statutory intervention would beinappropriate because the property is not aproblematic empty property.

The act does not preclude local authoritiesintervening informally in cases where theexceptions apply and offering voluntary solutions.Indeed in many situations informal interventionand offers of help to owners of empty propertycan be very useful in preventing propertiesbecoming long term problematic empty properties.In some circumstances, a local authority needs tomake a judgement as to whether such anapproach would be helpful or appropriate.

check whether exemptions apply



A final EDMO is likely to require the local authorityto incur some capital expenditure. Few emptyhomes are in a lettable condition and most requiresome repair works. Whilst most capital expenditurecan be recovered from the rent through theduration of the final EDMO, the local authorityneeds to have access to funds up front. Potentialsources of capital funds include:

• the local authority’s housing capital programme

• capital grants made available to RSLs from theHousing Corporation

• sub regional capital grants made available fromgovernment offices

• invest to save programs

• a loan from a commercial lender.

paying for capital expenditure

A local authority can only make an interim EDMOby getting the approval of the Residential PropertyTribunal. There are five regional officeswww.rpts.gov.uk in England and one in Wales.The procedural matters for applying for an orderare covered in the DCLG guidance note on EmptyDwelling Management Orders.

An interim EDMO could, and perhaps should, beconsidered as a final opportunity to find avoluntary solution to bringing the property backinto use. Voluntary solutions are nearly alwayspreferable to enforced ones and it would be amistake to think that because a statutory processhas been commenced that only a statutoryoutcome should be pursued.

The service of an interim EDMO sets a timetablelasting up to a year during which time the localauthority should work with the owner to find away of bringing the property back into use. Thelocal authority is not entitled to let the propertyduring the period of the interim order without theowner’s permission. It’s a good idea to seek thatpermission as early as possible. If granted the localauthority should consider whether there is anyneed for the order to stay in place and theproperty can be brought back into use on avoluntary basis. If permission is refused the localauthority should consider whether any othervoluntary solution is likely and if not considerwhether to make a final EDMO. The local authoritydoes not have to wait until the expiry of the year-long interim order to make a final order.

interim EDMOs

A local authority has to make a plan of how itintends to manage the property throughout theduration of the final EDMO. The managementscheme must be included with the notice the localauthority serves on the owner making the finalEDMO.

The scheme should include:

• details of any works that the local authorityintends to carry out to the property

• estimates of the cost of this work

• details of any other expenses that you intend torecover from the rent

• the amount of rent that the local authority willseek to charge tenants.

It would be helpful to the owner if you also usethe projected costs and income to calculate whenthe local authority costs will be repaid, and if andwhen the owner might receive rent.

The owner is entitled to hold you to themanagement scheme, so should you stray from itthe owner could appeal to the tribunal. Goodmanagement should enable you to stick broadly to the scheme, but of course you are unable toforesee the future. Unforeseen events have a habitof arising and may cause you to deviate from theplan. It’s a good idea to plan for these and explainthem in the plan so that the owner canunderstand why small variations might occur. So for example add contingency sums in estimated costs and explain predicted void periods. Most owners will understand this if it is explained to them, and this should avoidunnecessary appeals.

the management scheme

The act does not provide a prescriptive list ofrelevant expenses, but it is reasonable to assumethat in addition to renovation costs other expensesmight include:

• costs of providing and fitting decoration, floor coverings and furniture

• local authority administrative costs

• home insurance premiums

• interest on the local authority’s capitalexpenditure on the property.

In all cases the local authority is only entitled torecover “reasonable” expenses. This puts an onuson the local authority to ensure that it achievesgood value for money. The property owner isentitled to appeal to the Residential PropertyTribunal against any local authority costs recovered against the rent that he/she feels are unreasonable.

what other expenses might you incur?

It should be relatively easy to estimate the rentablevalue of the dwelling. However there are someother factors you need to take into account toestimate the total rental income. These include:

• how long will it take to get the dwelling into alettable condition?

• the number of lets you envisage

• void periods between lets

• efficiency of rent collection.

By projecting likely expenses and income a localauthority should be able to construct a cash-flowforecast showing when expenses and income arelikely to occur.

It would be good practice to include this withinthe management scheme that it shares with theproperty owner. An example cash flow forecast isavailable on the Empty Homes Agency’s website.

Where projected expenditure exceeds projectedincome the local authority should considerwhether they are able to manage the EDMO. Theyshould consider whether it is possible to bring theproperty back into use using another method.They should also consider whether to operate theEDMO anyway and pay for the excess expenditurefrom other sources. Most methods of returningempty homes to use cause the local authority toincur some expenditure and it may be that some“loss making” EDMOs still represent good valuefor money for the local authority and thecommunity at large.

what rental income are you likely to receive from the property?



The local authority is entitled to carry out works tothe property and in most cases it is likely that atleast some work will be needed in order to bringthe property up to a lettable standard. It’s a goodidea to discuss projected works with the propertyowner in advance. The amount of works that thelocal authority can carry out may be influenced bythe amount of projected income available from the rent. If the local authority intends to carry out works over and above those to achieve a good standard of repair it should seek the owner’s permission.

Local authorities might use home improvementagencies, RSLs, in-house surveyors or privatesurveying firms or architects to manage the works.As with any work a local authority is carrying outon behalf of a property owner, it is important toensure the quality of the work and demonstratethat value for money is achieved.

carrying out works to the property

Local authorities need to put in place managementarrangements for the property once repair worksare carried out. In may cases suitablearrangements may already exist and wherepossible it makes good sense to make use of these arrangements.

Some local authorities for example may have in-house private sector leasing schemes, others havecontractual or partnership relationships with RSLsto manage temporary housing. Where thesearrangements do not exist it is a good idea to talkto local RSLs and private managing agents to setsomething up. Overall numbers may be small so itcan be a good idea to investigate a joint approachwith neighbouring local authorities.

managing the property

If it is necessary the local authority can serve afinal EDMO. It can do this directly without furtherapproval from the tribunal. However the ownermust be given a period in which to makerepresentations. To do this the local authority mustmake an order and send a copy to the owner ofthe property along with a notice setting out thereasons for the order being made and when it isdue to end.

The owner then has 14 days to makerepresentations to the local authority. The localauthority has to take account of anyrepresentations it receives. If it still wants to goahead it can then make the final EDMO and senda copy to the owner. The owner has the right toappeal to the tribunal if he/she doesn’t agree withthe terms of he order.

final EDMOs


Just as a medical doctor doesn’t work alone localauthorities don’t have to implement a wholeempty property strategy directly themselves. In fact the most successful approaches spread the workload across different sections within thecouncil, external partners, suppliers andneighbouring local authorities.

part 3. treatment

Arguably the most important relationship inmedicine is the one between patient and doctor.Doctors discovered thousands of years ago thatdiagnosis, prescription and treatment only workwith the context of trust. Similar principles operatein the world of business, customers only buy ifthey trust the seller.

Essentially people only respond and do thingswithin the context of a human relationship.Building and maintaining relationships withproperty owners is perhaps the most importantsecret ingredient in a successful approach toempty homes as this case study fromSouthampton shows.

working with owners of empty homes


A common problem local authorities face whentackling empty homes is lack of internal resources.Smaller local authorities in particular will find itdifficult to set up the medicine cupboard ofoptions that is detailed in the guidebook on theirown. Authorities with a relatively small number ofempty homes may well question the costeffectiveness of doing so when each option mayonly be used a few times. This in many waysmakes perfect sense, but for the people affectedby those empty homes it is little consolation.Research carried out by the empty homes agencyshows that an empty home in a rural localauthority is three and half times less likely to bedealt with by the local authority than one in anurban area. There are urban areas too where theissue is not given the priority or the resourcesneeded to make an impact.

Surveys of empty homes tend to show that theproblems do not vary greatly from one area to thenext and so there is often great scope for workingin partnership with neighbouring local authoritiesto achieve a level of service that would not be possible if the same local authorities worked independently.

There is no prescribed model for cross boroughworking. Some partnerships are low profile andinformal others, are glamourous and highlyorganised but all help achieve more results thanwould otherwise have been possible as these twocase studies show.

cross boundary working


This three-bed house was originally owned bySouthampton City Council. But sometime duringthe 1980s the occupiers exercised their right tobuy and became owner-occupiers. In the mid1990s they died and their son Mark and daughterClaire inherited the property. Shortly afterwards,Mark bought Claire’s share and became the soleowner. This was his first experience of propertyownership and his plan was to modernise thehouse and move in.

The house wasn’t in bad repair, but neededupdating eg new windows, a new kitchen,bathroom, and central heating. Work was carriedout a bit at a time, but Mark’s lack of experiencein property ownership began to show. To savecosts he employed local tradespeople directly; a bitof plumbing here, and a bit of carpentry there. Butthe contractual matters were not organisedproperly. The instructions and the payment termswere ambiguous and the lack of a plan meantthings were done in the wrong order. Two yearsafter work had started the house was even lesshabitable than when he first became the owner.Mark had spent a lot of money and felt that hehad been ripped off. One by one the tradespeoplegot fed up and walked off site and refused tocome back.

Mark tried to do some of the work himself, butwith little success- particularly as he was workinglonger shifts and was increasingly distracted byrelationship difficulties at home. He becamedisillusioned with the whole thing and began toput the house out of his mind. Offers of help andoffers to buy the house came in, but Mark wasintent on using his own money rather than grants,and remained steadfastly suspicious against thepotential for being ripped off again.

Neglect set in and the garden became overgrown.Neighbours reported seeing rats and called inEnvironmental Health. Mark only cleared thegardens after the council threatened to serve anotice and carry out the works in default ifnecessary. But Mark was not happy and felt hehad been unfairly picked on and ripped off again.The house had now been empty for five years.Environmental Health reported the house to theempty property officer.

Although Southampton City Council is developingan Enforced Sale Procedure for tackling emptyhomes, and was one of the first two LocalAuthorities to champion the concept of EDMOs, ithas traditionally taken a non-enforcement route toresolving empty property problems. Theyoccasionally carry out compulsory purchase andother measures – such as Repair Notices - butreserve these powers for very extreme cases. In thiscase they judged the owner to be a particularlyvulnerable person and that enforcement was bestavoided if at all possible.

The Empty Property Officer tried to work throughthe problems with Mark and eventually gained histrust. He drew up a plan with Mark prioritisingwhat needed to be done and in what order, andhow it was going to be paid for. Using their list ofknown contractors the council were able to findbuilders willing to do the work and who Mark wasprepared to employ. The EPO supported Mark ingetting estimates, giving instructions, managingcontracts and paying the builders – but it wasalways Mark who made the final decisions on hisown. It took another three years of patientnegotiating but eventually in 2005 the house wasfinished. Mark was able to move in and finallybecome the owner-occupier of the house.

in for the long haul

The South East Devon Empty Homes Initiative wasestablished in 2003 by three district councils, sevenhousing associations and the Housing Corporation,to provide Empty Homes Services across the localauthority areas of Exeter, East Devon and MidDevon. The district councils and the housingassociations provide the revenue funding for theservice whilst the Housing Corporation and thedistricts have injected capital funding to supportempty homes projects.

The entire initiative is resourced by a single teamworking out of Exeter, but this sustains separateEmpty Homes Services in each area. The aim is tocreate an efficient service which neverthelessretains its local flavour and control and allowsempty homes activities the flexibility to mesh inwith the other activities of each authority.

To take an example, SEDEHI was the catalyst forsetting up private sector leasing schemes in thetwo rural authorities although the vehicles fordelivering them were different. The lease terms,publicity material and so forth, were however,based on a common template.

An empty homes partnership officer works acrossthe two rural authorities whilst the empty homespartnership manager and empty homes negotiatorfocus on Exeter, the urban base from which theInitiative originally sprang.

As far as capital funding goes, HousingCorporation funding is allocated at thebidding/allocation stage to “Empty Homes” rather than specific schemes and money can betransferred between the different areas or RSLpartners as necessary to meet demand. RSLpartners select different areas of opportunity (forexample, geographical, type of scheme such asTemporary Social Housing Grant etc) and adetailed agreement governs how opportunities aredistributed. There is a formal Joint CommissioningProtocol signed off by all the main parties.

To give an example of the benefits of thisapproach, by submitting a unified bid, thepartnership was successful in obtaining over£200,000 of Private Sector Renewal funding fromthe South West Housing Body over 2004-06, to be used to bring empty properties within thecross-boundary area up to the Decent Homesstandard from 2004-2006.

the south east devon empty homes initiative


Performance indicators may not be universelypopular but they do at least give a sense of howwell local government is performing. They givetangible evidence to the public and the press ofwhat is going on. And they bestow a level ofimportance on the activity that is being measured.An absence of reported activity can easily bepresumed to mean an absence of activity.

There are two national indicators relating to emptyhomes. Best Value Performance indicator 64 andCPA Housing Performance Indicator H18.Guidance on the application of BV64 can be foundon the National Association of Empty PropertyPractitioner’s websitehttp://www.naepp.org.uk/website/drupal/BVPI64

CPA Indicator H18 measures the total number ofprivate sector homes vacant for more than 6months. The indicator currently applies only tounitary councils. It is a measure of outcome ratherthan output in that it measures the overall numberof long term empty homes not the amountreturned to use by the local authority.

Local authorities are of course free to develop theirown local performance indicators, which they canreport locally in addition to the national indicators.Local performance indicators can be helpful inkeeping local authority members and the localcommunity informed on progress against localpriorities. The advantage of local performanceindicators is that they can be developed to moreclosely follow local priorities.

These examples from a variety of local authoritiesshow what can be done:

• empty Homes returned to social housing use

• empty Homes returned to use in sustainable areas

• long term empty properties (i.e empty for morethan 6 months) returned to use

• family sized empty homes returned to use

• percentage reduction in the overall number of long term empty homes.

performance indicators and recording


The East Kent Empty Homes Initiative is apartnership between Swale, Thanet, Dover,Shepway District Councils and Kent CountyCouncil. East Kent is one of the most deprivedareas of the South East of England. A number ofthe coastal towns have seen suffered from thedecline of the traditional seaside holiday industryand the coal mining industry that was a significantlocal employer until the 1980s. A number of thetowns have similar problems of empty homes at arate above the average for the region. The districtcouncil’s had tackled these separately with limitedresources and although there had been numeroussuccessful outcomes the overall numbers of emptyhomes had not significantly reduced.

Kent County Council offered to help. It broughttogether the four district councils through theLocal Area Agreement process One of Kent’stargets under this agreement was “to improveKent residents’ access to homes of excellentquality, in the right place, at the right time, and atthe right cost” A target which clearly supportedthe return of empty properties to use.

The partnership set itself a target of returning 372homes to use within its first three years and setabout providing the range of services it needed tobring this about. It commissioned a survey to findout where the empty homes were and how muchit would cost to bring them back into use. Itappointed a regional empty property officer and aprofessional PR company to get the message outand ran a successful local media campaign usingthe brand “No Use Empty “ www.no-use-empty.org to persuade and shame owners ofempty homes into action. Kent County Councilhas devoted some of its own resources to theproject and It has also bid for funds under thelocal Public Service Agreement scheme operatedby DCLGwww.dclg.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1134088

It is looking to expand the scheme and hopes tobe able to offer low interest loans but already isahead of schedule in meeting its target.

the east kent empty homes initiativeIt would not have been possible to produce thisguidebook without the help contributions ofsupport of a large range of people. In particular Iwould like to thank the following people whogave me their time expertise and advice.

Steve Bradley, City Of Westminster

Nick Caprara, London Borough Harrow and NAEPP

Dave Carter, London Borough Enfield

Joanne Cavanagh, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Tim Clarke, Ipswich Borough Council

Jacqueline Connerky, London Borough Ealing

Thelma Cunningham, Plymouth City Council

Tony Draper, Tony Draper Consulting

Christopher Duggan, Plymouth City Council

Neil Dunk, Sheffield City Council

John Earnshaw, Empty Homes Agency

Jonathan Ellis, Empty Homes Agency

Dave Gibbens, Exeter City Council

Keith Gunner, Southampton City Council

Adrian Hall, Birmingham City Council

Desmond Kilroy, Empty Homes Agency

Andrew Lavender, PPS plc

Jeremy Mason, Derby City Council

Rob Miles, Department of Communities and Local Government

John O’Dwyer, Brent Community Housing

Beatty Osborne, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council

Paul Palmer, City of Westminster

Susan Pledger, Kent County Council

Dennis Roberts, Government Office for East of England

Jean Roberts, Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea

Anna Simpson, Fordham Research

Chris Smith, Greater London Authority

Christopher Skinner, Great Yarmouth BoroughCouncil

Tracey Slater, Great Yarmouth Borough Council

Donna Strange, Government Office for East of England

Dave Stott, Manchester City Council

Richard Stocks, FD Tamesis

Daren Sussex, Bristol City Council

Ian Tagg, London Borough Islington

Professor Toby Taper, MORI

Laura Shaw, Sheffield City Council

Janet Wade, North London sub region

Gary Wilson, Manchester City Council

Qamer Yasim, South Hampshire District Council

acknowledgments

a cure for empty homes · empty properties back into use 3 a cure for empty homes In many parts of...

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