How We Did It: Unlocking empty properties to tackle the housing crisis
Housing demand is soaring. Approximately 8.5 million people in the UK face ‘unmet’ housing needs, with a backlog of 4.3 million homes missing from the national market. And yet thousands of properties lie empty. Putting these back into use is a critical step in addressing the housing crisis and revitalising our places.
We put Steve Grimshaw in our ‘How We Did It’ hot seat to understand how Kent County Council brought 8,607 empty properties back into use over 20 years through its No Use Empty project. In the process, the council developed positive relationships with developers and landlords, and reinvested money back into the local economy.
Interview highlights
On the origins of the project:
We set up a three year pilot project covering Dover, Folkestone, Shepway and the Swale area of Kent. Across the district councils, everybody was doing something differently or not doing anything at all. So it was very much a training mission to get empty property officers up to speed with the powers that they have in order to bring empty properties back into use. The empty property officers across the districts are our foot soldiers. They’re the ones who have got access to the data about who owns empty properties.
The empty property officers across the districts are our foot soldiers. They’re the ones who have got access to the data about who owns empty properties.
The council initially put up a £5 million loan fund. As well as accessing advice and guidance, people with empty properties could apply to the council for a short-term loan to help bring that property back into use. The very first loan took about two years to actually be released. There was a lot of legal work going on in the background to understand what the powers in the legislation would allow the council to set up within that loan scheme.
By the time the pilot project ended, we had brought 372 empty properties back into use. Because of this success, the project was rolled out across all of Kent to the 12 districts that we have.
On keeping the momentum going:
From the off we’ve had buy in and cross party support. In the early days of the scheme, I had to go and report to our cabinet committee on performance and because of budgetary climates over the years, defend the No Use Empty scheme and why we should be bringing properties back into use when we’re the county council not the housing authority. It has been about reiterating the wider benefits of the scheme, and what it can bring.
One way we do this is by providing district tours, providing an opportunity for the county council and respective colleagues to visit the district. It brings the project to life and then those cabinet members tend to be quite vocal in support.
On the types of buildings brought back to use:
We’ve made successful bids to funds such as the Growing Places Fund that have allowed us to bring empty shops back into use in town centres that had high volumes of empty shops on the high street and to tackle some larger commercial buildings as well. I can’t think of any project where the shop has failed. Other funding that we’ve been lucky enough to receive from the Homes and Communities Agency enabled us to deliver an affordable homes programme.
The money is being spent in the local economy, it’s helping to safeguard and create jobs, it’s reducing antisocial behaviour and, ultimately, it’s providing homes for people locally.
On what has been achieved:
The impact of the loan money being recycled is far reaching. We’re up to about £63 million worth of recycled loans in a 20 year period, with all 12 Kent districts working with us. The money is being spent in the local economy, it’s helping to safeguard and create jobs, it’s reducing antisocial behaviour and, ultimately, it’s providing homes for people locally. We have housed 3,500 people to date. By taking some of the larger buildings and creating multiple units within them, we have built over a thousand homes that didn’t exist in the first place, providing new homes for people as well as generating new council tax receipts.
Work with people that share your passion for empty properties.
On how other councils can get started:
I would recommend trying to pilot something – identify some of the properties that could be tackled so that you get some quick wins, something to sell back to your relevant cabinet members to try and get some buy in. Also try and work with people that share your passion for empty properties.
Photo by Dan Senior on Unsplash.
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