Corby and East Northamptonshire

Background

Corby and East Northamptonshire are neighbouring local authorities with shared boundaries and a strong ethos of working together, and where possible sharing services. The opportunity to join forces on a partnership approach to maximise their empty homes was one which they wanted to embrace.

Located in Northamptonshire in the East Midlands, Corby and East Northamptonshire have many similarities, including urban characteristics coupled with access to large tracts of countryside. Corby lies within a growth area identified by the government and the population is expected to increase rapidly due to increases in housing and job opportunities.

East Northamptonshire also has a growing population and is predicted to grow faster than other parts of England. Over the years both councils have dealt with empty properties through their existing teams without the dedicated support of an Empty Homes Officer. This has meant Corby and East Northamptonshire having to take a reactive approach to empty properties rather than being able to prioritise problem areas. Each local authority has established relationships with their supporting teams, such as Building Control, Council Tax, Housing Options, Community Safety and Planning. East Northamptonshire uses their strong relationship with the Empty Properties Officer working in the Council Tax team to check the status on empty properties, which is carried out on a regular basis by the housing team.

Corby uses the expertise within their Building Control team to provide knowledge and to conduct visits to empty properties to check the stability of buildings and also that of their Council Tax team to verify some empty properties. Across Corby and East Northamptonshire there are approximately 690 homes which have been empty for over six months – 426 in East Northamptonshire, including those that have been empty for more than 12 months and will be targeted as part of this project, and 264 in Corby which have been empty for more than 6 months. Combining funding received from the Department of Communities and Local Government they each utilised a joint pot of £35,000 to target the most problematic properties.

Project

The plan for Corby and East Northamptonshire to unlock their empty homes potential and provide affordable housing for local residents started in December 2010. An officer from each authority took the lead role in co-ordinating the empty homes project, and working collaboratively they developed their approach.

This included:

• Establishing criteria to prioritise (risk rating) empty homes in each local authority area.
• Using the criteria to identify, within each local authority their top 50 most problematic empty homes.
• Establishing and implementing the administrative processes and database system to track and monitor empty properties.

Before an Empty Homes Officer was appointed the project managers at Corby and East Northamptonshire developed a set of criteria through an ‘empty homes matrix’ or ‘risk rating register’ to catalogue and prioritise the problematic properties.

The criteria used included:

• Period of time empty
• Land charges and/or Council Tax debt
• Visual appearance
• Complaints relating to nuisance and/or anti social behaviour
• Serious disrepair and dangerous structures
• Property history
• Properties located in areas with high housing need (ENC)

The highest scoring properties were listed as Corby and East Northamptonshire Council’s top 50 empty homes. In spring 2011 a specialist Empty Homes Officer was successfully recruited providing a dedicated resource for both councils to focus on empty homes. With the approach and administrative ground work in place, the Empty Homes Officer set to work focusing on 100 problematic properties - 50 empty homes in each area. Armed with information on the top 100 empty homes the Officer followed up on an initial letter (Stage 1) and/or follow on letter (Stage 2), and/or the findings from site visits made to each empty property and its owner. Corby and East Northamptonshire’s focus throughout this process has been to proactively work with the owners to support them, through negotiation, to bring their property back into use.

The key to negotiations with empty home owners has been an understanding of the reason why the property is empty and the Officer using their expertise to offer a range of options and solutions to bring it back into use. The generic support offered by each council has included bespoke advice to owners, identifying suitable letting agents and putting owners in touch with private developers. Corby has been in a position to offer some owners an empty homes grant to help support the unlocking of their empty property.

In addition, those owners who are interested in providing accommodation for social tenants and take on the role of social landlord have been able to take advantage of a ‘Deposit Bond Scheme’. This provides the tenant with a bond, in lieu of a deposit, to secure a tenancy. Although both councils have an owner centred approach to bringing empty homes back into use they are looking at where enforcement measures may need to be used with owners who continually fail to respond to the negotiations on offer.

It is anticipated that this will be initiated on a case by case basis and following a final Stage 3 letter which the empty home owner will receive. Through their work Corby and East Northamptonshire have strengthened collaborative working on empty homes across council teams. East Northamptonshire has a good working relationship with Council Tax and there is now a free flow of information between both teams which is helping to provide an accurate picture of empty homes. The Empty Homes Officer has also been able to reinforce with the Housing Policy team (housing options, homelessness, RSLs, etc.) that there are empty properties which can potentially support their work.

This has resulted in clients being matched to empty properties to provide them with a much needed home. Corby also boasts a strong relationship with their Housing Options team and this is where the Deposit Bond Scheme sits. Their strong working relationship with the Council Tax team continues and means that regular data is provided which the team works on to ensure an accurate empty homes picture. Both councils have to continually work with a fluctuating number of empty properties so when a home is brought back into use the team revises its list of empty homes so that they are constantly working and focused on 50 properties at any given time.

East Northamptonshire and Corby are committed to publicising their partnership project on empty homes so that owners, landlords and the wider community have a clear understanding of the support which is available across both districts. Both Councils have their own newsletter which goes out to all residents across Corby and East Northamptonshire which will be used to highlight the work and provide residents with information on how to report an empty home.

This renewed focus on empty homes has raised awareness and both councils have been approached by residents and managing agents who are keen to support the empty homes work by either purchasing an empty home or letting out empty homes. This has provided both councils with further options to offer owners of empty properties, particularly as the majority of empty home owners are keen to rent out their properties but are unsure on how to go about doing it. By the autumn Corby and East Northamptonshire will have a strong foundation in place to deliver on empty properties and will have returned more empty homes back into use.

In addition, they expect to have established a robust case to continue their joint approach to maximise on their empty housing stock and provide more affordable homes for the residents of Corby and East Northamptonshire.

Impact

The biggest impact has been on owners of empty properties. With a renewed focus and a joint approach, Corby and East Northamptonshire have demonstrated to owners that they are committed and serious about helping them to maximise the use of their empty property.

The momentum generated by both teams is starting to reap benefits with 24 empty properties being brought back into use in just over three months. With Corby and East Northamptonshire’s proactive approach in place, focused on negotiation with empty home owners they are providing a targeted and responsive empty homes service. Work internally with other teams, in particular Housing Options, has illustrated that empty homes can be used to support other teams work by providing critically needed homes for social tenants.

The councils have also:

• Strengthened working relationships with Council Tax which means a clearer picture of empty homes across both districts is obtainable.
• Established a range of options/solutions for empty home owners targeted at their individual needs rather than ‘one solution fits all’.
• Through the Empty Homes Officer, raised awareness across other teams on how they can work jointly on bringing empty homes back into use, by utilising existing resources, such as, Building Control, Planning and/or Environmental Health.
• Raised the profile of empty homes with councillors and the potential to contribute to Corby and East Northamptonshire’s housing needs.

Awareness raising with the wider community and residents of empty homes has capitalised on people’s interest in this issue and has enabled both councils to extend their offer of support to owners by providing access to potential tenants or managing agents. The challenge for both councils will be to maintain the momentum but with their robust approach, underpinned by an empty homes risk rating system, processes and procedures and specialist empty homes officer, they have the foundations in place to succeed.

Lessons Learned

• Be clear on what you want to achieve, agree your approach and prioritise your empty homes from the outset.
• Spend time planning and get all your processes, procedures and system in place first before you start engaging with empty home owners.
• Make it part of your empty homes work to focus on building and strengthening working relationships with other council teams.
• Understand that bringing an empty home back into use can be a slow process as every property is unique.
• A proactive, negotiated approach does work with the majority of owners but you must keep the momentum and dialogue consistent between yourself and the owner.

Reference

Amy Plank
Senior Environmental Heath Officer
Corby Borough Council
The Corby Cube
George Street
Corby
Northamptonshire
NN17 1QG
01536 402551
amy.plank@corby.gov.uk

East Northamptonshire            

Giovanna Bezzina            
Housing Technical Officer            

Jenny Walker            
East Northamptonshire Council            
Cedar Drive            
Thrapston            
Northamptonshire            
NN14 4LZ            
01832 742041            
jwalker@east-northamptonshire.gov.uk