Owners of empty homes may be forced to sell up
A LONDON council could force owners to sell homes that have languished empty for years.
The wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea has an incredible rate of 1,916 empty homes – the highest ratio in London. This includes 1,179 which have been sitting empty for more than six months.
Fifty-seven of them have been empty for a decade or more, despite the pressures on housing in the borough. A total of 650 have been empty for more than two years.
The area has some of the UK’s most expensive private properties, and it also has overcrowded homes and some of the most deprived areas in the country, just streets away from some of the most desirable homes.
However much of the borough falls into a conservation area and it is already one of London’s most densely populated areas. There are 3,500 people on the housing register and 2,300 in temporary accommodation.
“This means that we cannot build our way out of the housing crisis, and must instead explore new, innovative ways of using resources that already exist,” said director of housing management Doug Goldring.
The council’s deputy leader Kim
Taylor-Smith said: “Any empty home is a lost opportunity, it’s something which could be used to accommodate our homeless or key workers.”
He revealed the council is now looking at ways to bring 57 homes which have stood empty for over a decade back to life.
Cllr Taylor-Smith said the council has limited powers and it is clear that charging homeowners higher council tax “is not providing an incentive to bring homes back”.
A 200% council tax bill is already slapped on homes which are empty for two to five years, rising to 300% for any standing empty for longer.
The authority is looking for a test case to persuade homeowners to sell homes them.
Cllr Taylor-Smith said: “We have decided to give it a go. We are looking at the application of the empty homes management order. We are looking at how we might use enforced sales legislation or a test case in order to see how we are doing it.”
The authority has already campaigned unsuccessfully for changes in legislation to beef up its powers.
Cllr Taylor-Smith said it can force sales by compulsory purchase orders but would have to pay full market rate, so it is not the best use of public money to bring homes back into use. if they are not using
Tim Davis, the council’s head of environmental health said “It’s a long time since we’ve brought an empty property back into use.”
He explained that the council has now got officers specifically looking at the problem to persuade owners to bring homes back into use.
Dori Schmetterling, who represents Pembridge ward, said owners sometimes pay people to live in properties to prevent squatters moving in.
The council also pledges to improve its own work to get new families moving into empty council homes within 28 days.
Currently it has 15 homes which have been empty for six months.