A new empty homes strategy for South Northamptonshire

Background

South Northamptonshire is an affluent rural district with high house prices making affordable housing a primary concern for the Council’s Strategic Housing team. Whilst empty homes exist, they are widely dispersed and cause very low levels of complaints from residents so tackling them has not been a priority over the past few years. South Northamptonshire Council did have a history of tackling empty homes. In 2005, the team developed an empty property strategy as part of the Council’s Housing Strategy.

A working group incorporating the private sector, council tax, planning and the strategic housing team were pulled together to develop an action plan for empty homes which included identifying where they existed and writing to owners to explore the reasons why the homes were empty. A leaflet designed by the Council giving advice on renovation and refurbishment was designed to accompany the letters to owners. During the implementation of the action plan in 2008, two key members of staff in the team left and the work consequently ground to a halt. It has only been within the last year that the team have been back up to the full complement of officers and have been able to have a renewed focus on empty homes.

In the summer of 2010, South Northamptonshire, East Northamptonshire and Corby Local Authorities were collectively awarded £53,000 by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to tackle empty homes as part of the national skills and capacity building programme. This provided a unique opportunity for South Northamptonshire to revisit their empty homes programme and link it into the development of the new Housing Strategy for the Council.

Project

Following the allocation of funding by DCLG, South Northamptonshire met with the two neighbouring authorities to discuss a collective approach to tackling empty homes as part of the programme. East Northants and Corby face similar issues in regard to their empty homes and were keen to adopt a more enforcement led approach. This type of approach was deemed less appropriate for South Northamptonshire given the low level of empty homes and lack of complaints so the group agreed to split the funding three ways, giving each an allocation of approximately £17,000.

There is currently no dedicated empty homes officer in the South Northamptonshire team and the responsibility for this work is split across the three strategic housing officers. The private sector team support in the identification of empty homes and are able to offer guidance in regard to enforcement when necessary. Empty homes is only a small element of the strategic housing team’s role which also covers development, new affordable homes and policy. Given this lack of capacity, the team were keen to adopt a focused approach to tackling empty homes that was not resource intensive.

The team decided to focus first on getting an accurate picture of the number of long term empty homes in the district. Through interrogation of the council tax database, officers identified that there were 357 long-term empties. Recognising that there are often errors in council tax data, the private sector team began by focusing on a sample of the 357 to get an updated position. The strategic housing team’s approach was then to target those properties that had been empty for more than two years, with a concentrated effort on the market towns where the majority of the empty homes are located. This work included sending out 139 letters to owners targeting 196 empty homes.

The letter also included a questionnaire requesting owners to provide details on the status of their empty home, including whether it was undergoing any renovations and the intentions of the owner in bringing the property back into use. The Council received a positive reaction to the letters, with 135 responses from owners, providing the Council with a clear picture on the number of empty homes. As suspected, a number of owners (approximately 60) reported that their home was incorrectly listed as empty. These have been passed on to the council tax team to verify and, where appropriate, update their records. At least a third of homes that were reported empty were undergoing renovations and a similar number were reported to be unable to sell (the majority of respondents stating that the economic climate was having an impact).

Through this approach the team is now in a position to work proactively with owners to identify why properties are empty and encourage them, through their planned range of options, to bring them back into use without the need for enforcement.

The next step for South Northamptonshire Council, armed with their evidence base on empty homes, is to produce an empty homes report which will be reviewed by senior offices and then Councillors. The report will provide a business case for action on empty homes, including a series of options and activities on how empty properties can be brought back into use. It is envisaged that the details from the report and resulting action plan will feature in the Council’s Housing Strategy due for consideration by the Council in the autumn of 2011.

It is anticipated that the action plan will include activities to support owners of empty homes such as a deposit guarantee scheme. Aimed to assist in the prevention of homelessness as well as increasing housing options for homeless or potentially homeless households. It would also help to improve the Council’s relationship with the private rented sector. The scheme is open to households who are either in priority need and unintentionally homeless or threatened with homelessness or not in priority need but threatened with homelessness. If the household can demonstrate they could financially sustain a tenancy, a bond will be issued to the landlord guaranteeing payment up to the value of the deposit (usually equivalent to 1 month’s rent).

The team maintain a database of landlords who are willing to accept referrals and it is hoped that empty properties may be identified that could be suitable for the deposit guarantee scheme. If this is possible then the work that is being completed will not only bring properties back into use, but will benefit private landlords by the additional income from renting their property and will help the local authority with increased homelessness prevention and housing options for local households.

South Northamptonshire is currently in the process of adopting shared management with the neighbouring authority, Cherwell District Council. This may provide an opportunity to explore options available and to consider where appropriate utilising existing resources to unlock the potential for further affordable homes across both districts.

Impact

South Northamptonshire has a renewed focus on empty homes. They have worked proactively, with limited staff resource to establish a robust set of empty homes processes, procedures and system. Starting internally with the council tax team they have raised the profile of empty homes, and more importantly the benefits of working collaboratively to share Council data.

Armed with the data from the council tax team they have approached owners of empty properties and established an accurate picture on the numbers empty and reasons. This has helped to raise awareness of the support available from the Council and to start to establish a proactive, rather than enforcement centred approach to bringing them back into use.

With an accurate picture on the number of empty homes facing the District and the potential for these to contribute to South Northamptonshire affordable housing, the team is working on the business case for future activities to support owners to unlock the potential of their empty home.

Lessons Learned

• Gain an accurate picture of empty homes as early as possible to help support your evidence base and approach.
• Establish a working relationship with Council tax by demonstrating the benefits for each team.
• Do not under estimate the amount of time required to refocus and ‘set up’ your empty homes system.
• Look at examples of what other councils and agencies have done on empty homes and see how you might be able to use it in your work.

Reference

Jacqueline Brooks Team Leader Strategic Housing South Northamptonshire Council, Springfields, Towcester NN12 6AE Tel: 01327 322 322 http://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/ Jacqueline.Brooks@SouthNorthants.gov.uk