No Use Empty

Background

An empty house serves about as much use as a rusted, abandoned car. Not only do they deprive people of much needed homes, but they can also attract anti-social behaviour, and in some cases devalue the prices of surrounding properties. In 2005, there were over 9,000 long-term empty properties in East Kent. Almost a third of them were concentrated in the four coastal districts of Thanet, Dover, Shepway and Swale.

At the same time the county was suffering from a shortage of affordable homes. In response to this situation Kent County Council worked in partnership with the district councils of Thanet, Dover, Shepway and Swale to try and bring a large number of empty properties back in to use.

The council leaders knew that the empty homes were a blight on Kent’s otherwise beautiful coastal towns, and they were keen to restore pride in the areas. They realised that tackling the empty housing problem could be an effective way of doing so.

If they were going to make any serious headway, they knew they would need to engage with the owners of the private dwellings and convince potential landlords of the financial opportunities they were missing out on. The owners could use their properties as a new source of revenue instead of allowing them to become a financial drain.

The councils were further empowered through new and existing legislation. The introduction of Empty Homes Management Orders meant that owners of long-term, empty housing faced losing control of their properties unless they could show that action was being taken to bring it back onto the market.

Local authorities had the power to begin proceedings if a property had been empty for over six months. Of course there were several stages the local authorities would need to go through before contemplating a management order, and such action was seen as a last resort. However, it provided a stick if the financial incentives weren’t successful.

With a clear goal and a general strategy for how to achieve it, Kent County Council united the four coastal authorities to establish the No Use Empty initiative. It would identify the properties and present legal options and incentives to the owners to renovate and repair them, and turn them into much-needed usable, rentable homes.

The three-year programme was a huge success and has been extended to all of Kent’s local authorities until 2013.

The No Use Empty campaign demonstrates great practice in housing and the built environment, and links to a number of the other elements of great places:

Governance – using existing local authority powers imaginatively and to their maximum effect
Economy – speeding up local regeneration and unblocking barriers in the housing market
Environmental – making better use of existing homes and assets
 

Project

The initiative was set up – in addition to other work being carried out by the district councils – to combat empty housing. Its aim was to bring unused, privately owned properties, often in disrepair, back into use as affordable dwellings for people in Kent.

Its primary target was to reach out to the owners whose properties were standing empty. Its key messages to them were:

• An empty house is a financial drain and a missed opportunity to earn rents or sale
• Empty houses deprive people in need of a home
• The cost of repair is often less than you might think
• Empty housing attracts anti-social behaviour and can devalue surrounding properties
• Free advice and help is available

Kent appointed a project manager to oversee the task of steering No Use Empty. The manager’s responsibilities included:

• Developing the loan scheme for renovation
• Managing the funding
• Overseeing the PR strategy
• Liaising with all relevant parties
• At the local level empty property officers in the four districts were responsible for identifying empty properties, making contact with the owners, deciding on the appropriate action – using enforcement if necessary – and helping owners apply for funds for repair. The scheme has provided owners of empty properties with funding in excess of £2m, in the form of interest-free loans.

Multidisciplinary working was crucial to the success of the project. Besides the property officers, various other council departments, including legal, planning, building control and council tax, became involved in giving advice or helping to enforce the measures required to get the housing back into circulation. This corporate approach was crucial to enable councils to be effective on the ground.

Publicity and awareness of the project were also vital. Kent made a PR company responsible for raising awareness and publicity around the project. Launch events, press releases, national newspaper articles and media interest were all managed by the company as well as internal newsletters and a website.

Staff training was necessary in some areas and Capital Project Consultancy (CPC Ltd), a private sector consultancy, was appointed as the delivery partner to give the scheme the professional and technical expertise – especially for enforcement action and training

The effective two-tier working between the county council and the district councils was a key aspect of No Use Empty. All people working on the project were brought together for seminars that brought them up to speed on the current legislation to bring properties back into use. A series of ‘masterclasses’ were organised to ensure that staff had the skills and knowledge they needed to make the project a success. These explained the use of, for example, compulsory purchase orders, enforced sales procedure and empty dwelling management orders, and the implications they would have for the council.

These classes helped to strengthen the bonds between the staff in different departments and at county and district level, in their joined-up approach to tackling the problems of Kent’s empty properties. The classes were further supplemented by specialist housing advice, provided by a consultant acting as a floating resource to the councils.

The project began with an awareness campaign followed by an audit of the properties in the districts that were lying empty. Negotiations with the owners followed. This included supplying them with information about the benefits of the scheme – both for them and potential tenants. The final stage was delivery of usable properties that had stood idle for too long.

New skills had to be acquired by the team to execute the project. In total over 560 officers were trained to bring them fully up to speed on a range of areas including:

• Enforced sales procedure
• Empty Dwelling Management Orders
• Compulsory Purchase Orders
• Legislation options to deal with empty properties
• Energy efficiency (Part L Building Regulations)
• Negotiation skills
• Conflict resolution skills were also key – not only with property owners but also to tackle some internal issues at the council. As with any project of this size, other management skills, such as financial planning and team building, also proved vital.

Impact

The three-year target for the number of empty properties to be returned to use was 372. This was surpassed by almost 30 per cent with 487 formerly vacant properties enjoying a new lease of life and providing new homes for people as a direct result of No Use Empty’s campaign.

The scheme set a new target for 2010, which was revised up from 650 to 850. The scheme will have brought back in excess of 1,000 properties by 31 March 2010.

As Kevin Lynes, cabinet member for Regeneration & Economic Development at Kent County Council said: “Empty houses are a scourge on our local communities, preventing investment and regeneration, devaluing surrounding properties, attracting anti-social behaviour and depriving people of a much needed home. In teaming up with local authorities from across the county, Kent has tackled this issue head-on, delivering outstanding results which prove that this initiative is an effective and efficient approach to tackling empty housing.”

No Use Empty was the first project where Kent County Council worked with district councils on what had been seen before as a district-level issue. The initiative has provoked a cultural shift in working practice, where departments that once worked in isolation are now cooperating to deal with a common issue.

And the project’s success has proved that it could be extended to other district councils and other councils across the country. As David Ireland, Chief Executive of the Empty Homes Agency (who were involved in the initial stages of the project), said: “No Use Empty has more than lived up to its early promise. Not only have the councils performed well, but the initiative has had a catalytic effect encouraging others to bring empty homes back into use. The number of empty homes in East Kent has dropped significantly over the last three years. We think that Kent has created a fantastic model here that other parts of the country could and should follow.”

Due to the success of the initiative it has been extended to all of Kent’s district authorities until 2013.

No Use Empty has been informally recognised by the Empty Homes Agency as an example of best practice. It is one of the country’s biggest empty homes initiatives.

The feedback has been very positive too. The council consulted the residents on the impact of the project. The satisfaction survey revealed a high approval rate. Many were very happy with the improvements that the project brought to the environment, with once empty homes brought back into use again.

Lessons Learned

Publicity is important. Kent employed a public relations company to raise the profile of the initiative. This set the right tone for those working on the campaign and drew the property owners to the table.

Training and developing the skills of empty property officers. A unified approach was crucial, as was equipping the team with the knowledge of how to operate within the scheme.

Celebrate success and let local residents know about developments. Kent’s use of the local press and other publicity helped to keep the project moving forward. Keeping elected members and other interested parties fully informed produced useful support and helped build on the project’s successes too

There is no substitute for expert advice. Kent procured professional housing consultants (CPC Ltd) to share its knowledge and support. Legal support is likewise vital.

Joint working must be encouraged – between districts and between different departments and disciplines within the same organisation – particularly in the collection and sharing of data and information.

Reference

Andrew Lavender, Project Consultant No Use Empty
Steve Grimshaw, Project Manager

Kent Council
Invicta House
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 1XQ

07867987550 / 01622 221906
Andrew.lavender@kent.gov.uk
Steve.grimshaw@kent.gov.uk

www.no-use-empty.org