Council loans bring empty properties back into use
A run-down Victorian office in Maidstone has been converted into accommodation for people with learning difficulties as part of a scheme to recycle empty buildings.
No Use Empty (NUE) is a county council-led initiative offering interest-free loans to developers, which has so far revived 4,556 derelict properties in the county since 2005.
Now the scheme’s flagship project – an unassuming threestorey block opposite the Vine Medical Centre in Tonbridge Road – has been unveiled.
Nine flats have been created by the £280,000 development of the building, which was purchased in 2001 by Accommodation-Y.E.S. (Your Empowering Service), and initially used as its office.
The family-owned company runs long and short-term accommodation for vulnerable adults as well as helping people towards independent living.
After moving out the business it got planning permission from Maidstone Borough Council and secured £175,000 from NUE.
Accommodation-Y.E.S. housing manager Iza O’Shea said: “Crucial to our goal of empowering people to live full and active lives in a more independent way is providing affordable, well-equipped accommodation.
“This is challenging given the reluctance of most lenders to make capital available to us, so we are delighted to have partnered with NUE to deliver this. It has supported us no end to make this a successful project.”
Steve Grimshaw, programme manager for NUE at KCC, said: “This started as a means of returning empty dwellings to use; 10 years on we are exploring ways of delivering new homes from dilapidated commercial premises.
“We encourage anyone undertaking a refurbishment or conversion to get in touch as we would love to help.”
All local authorities in Kent participate in NUE, which in 2011 went national.
Owners of empty buildings can apply for up to £25,000 per unit, repayable after three years, with KCC issuing a total of £16.9m in loans so far.
The loans granted by KCC have resulted in an additional £23.3m in private funding.
NUE has revived 488 buildings in Maidstone, 86 in Tonbridge and Malling and 150 in Tunbridge Wells.