Communities Minister Andrew Stunell today described the 300,000 long term empty homes in England as a scandal with four million people stranded on housing waiting lists. He said that if the empty properties were occupied by average sized families, around 700,000 more people could have a home of their own.
Mr Stunell called on communities to step up work to tackle the problem by making use of help and support from the Government. Communities stand to benefit by over £2bn if all long-term empty properties were brought back into use, with the New Homes Bonus paying out £7,000 for the average empty property.
The Minister also encouraged areas to back what he described as ‘win-win’ schemes – pioneering projects like the Canopy Housing Project in Leeds where homeless people are given training opportunities and a roof over their heads while they help bring empty properties back into use. The local area then receives government cash for each refurbished home.
On top of this, the Government has made a £100m fund available to bring empty properties back into use, and expressions of interest to bid for projects on are currently being considered.
Source: Communities & Local Government
