Local authorities have a range of powers to tackle derelict and abandoned land and buildings including:
- section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 \u2013which enables local authorities to serve a notice requiring owners to clean up land and buildings where their condition adversely affects the amenity of the area. Local authorities can also take direct action and recover the costs.
- section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 \u2013 we encourage local councils, including eligible parish councils, to consider the general power of competence in the Localism Act 2011. This removes the need to establish new narrow powers in response to particular issues. Local authorities have the power to act innovatively for their local communities and they can use the power without constantly looking back to Whitehall for permission.
- compulsory purchase powers \u2013 as a last resort, local authorities have a range of powers to acquire land for different purposes provided there is a compelling case in the public interest.<\/p>
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In February we amended the Community Infrastructure Levy to make it fairer and more flexible, including specific measures to encourage brownfield development. We also consulted on removing section 106 affordable housing contributions for small sites, as well as applying a similar exemption to vacant buildings brought back into use. The Government will publish a response to the consultation shortly.<\/p>
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We have exempted empty new builds from empty property rates for up to 18 months up to state aid limits. Also, our £1 billion package of business rates measures for 2014-15 included a £1,000 discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 for 2 years and a new re-occupation relief which cuts business rates by half for 18 months for businesses taking on a long-term empty retail property.<\/p>
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The Department has also made a number of deregulatory reforms to the planning system that encourage the re-use of existing, under-utilised buildings and building space. For example, there are permitted development rights that allow redundant space above shops to change to residential use as well as rights that allow offices to change to residential use. These, along with other change of use permitted development rights are making more productive use of our building stock and bringing forward much needed new homes.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4009", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Great Yarmouth"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Brandon Lewis"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-10-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-10-21T16:23:48.7796217Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "7"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Communities and Local Government"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Communities and Local Government"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-10-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Urban Areas"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to eradicate the commercial and aesthetic effects of derelict and abandoned buildings in town centres.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4129", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Ian Paisley"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "North Antrim"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Ian Paisley"} ], "uin" : "210611"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }