How empty homes could help tackle housing shortage
BBCBringing empty homes back into use could help thousands of families waiting for housing, a council has said.
Cumbria's Westmorland and Furness is the fifth-worst area in England for empty properties, according to government data analysed by campaign group Action on Empty Homes.
The area, part of which sits within the Lake District National Park, has more than 3,500 empty properties, yet more than 8,000 people are on the council's housing waiting list.
The Liberal Democrat-led authority has committed to hiring three dedicated staff specifically to deal with empty homes and to bring back into use 1,000 of them over the next five years.
Councillor Judith Derbyshire, who leads on housing at the council, said: "Quite often there's issues to do with rats, sometimes litter, sometimes damp going through into neighbours' walls, and we're wanting to get those properties back into use as fast as possible."
Derbyshire said council officers would work with homeowners, who may not have the funds to bring their properties up to scratch, to help them apply for government grants or "match them with other people who may have funding".
Taxing empty homes
Westmorland and Furness is also a prime area for holiday lets - with almost 6,000 second homes - which affects the availability of properties for people to live in.
An online search by the BBC of available homes on Rightmove showed that while there were only seven houses for rent in Ulverston, more than 100 were available to holidaymakers through Airbnb.
Derbyshire warned the council's initiative would not completely solve the housing crisis and new homes would still need to be built.
She said: "We are still going to have to build on green fields, but if you've got an existing house [..] and trying to get it back to being a home, I think it's one of the win-wins for us."
The council is also enforcing a "tax disincentive", with a 100% council tax premium on homes that have stood empty for one to five years, rising to 200% up to 10 years and 300% after that.
It is also looking at introducing a procedure, known as an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO), which would enable the council to take over empty homes and house a tenant.
Once the costs are recovered through rent, any income goes to the owner.