Research from Halifax and the Empty Homes Agency has found 78 per cent of British adults believe the government should prioritise the issue of empty homes.
Today is the start of National Empty Homes week (1-5 December) and to coincide with that the Empty Homes Agency has launched a campaign. It wants all political parties to pledge that should they form the next government, they will adopt a plan to tackle empty homes within their first year in power, as part of a wider approach to tackling housing needs.
Statistics from the Empty Homes Agency show that 610,000 homes in England lie empty. The research found that more than a third (36 per cent) of respondents thought empty homes are a blight on their local area, and 74 per cent believe their local authority should place a higher priority on tackling empty homes.
Two thirds put “making use of empty homes to help young people get on the housing ladder” as one of the top three policies in this area they would like the next government to implement.
Just a third of respondents (34 per cent) believe that turning empty homes into usable homes is not going to help solve the housing crisis.
Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, says: “Halifax has adapted its lending policy to allow greater flexibility around uninhabited, mortgaged properties. In order to assist with returning empty homes to a habitable condition, requests for consent to enter into Private Sector Leasing arrangements are now considered once eligibility has been confirmed by the local authority.
“With over 610,000 empty properties in England alone there is a real opportunity to introduce a range of incentives for owners to bring these properties back into use. A lot has been achieved over the last few years, but there is a need for all affected parties to continue to work together to address the issue of empty homes.”
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