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1353777

registered interest
date	08/09/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of empty residential properties in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that empty residential properties in those areas do not fall into disrepair and can return into productive use.
tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
uin	45136
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2021 answer text <p>As of October 2020, there were 268,385 long-term empty properties in England, 1,661 in Coventry and 28,740 in the West Midlands. Figures are not collected at parliamentary constituency level</p><p><br> Local authorities have powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they receive the same amount for bringing an additional empty home back into use over a baseline threshold as building a new one</p><p>Billing authorities in England also have the power to charge up to 100% extra council tax - on top of the standard bill - on properties that have been unoccupied and unfurnished for at least two years, up to 200% extra on properties that have been empty for at least five years, and up to 300% extra on properties that have been empty for at least 10 years</p><p><br> In certain circumstances, local authorities can exercise powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes in order to bring them back into use in the private rented sector. Local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) when a property has been empty for more than two years, subject to the production of evidence that the property has been causing a nuisance to the community and evidence of community support for their proposal</p><p><br> Grant funding is also available through the Affordable Homes Programme to bring empty homes back into use. Empty properties must not be existing social housing owned by the Registered Provider or by another Registered Provider</p><p><br> It is for local housing authorities to decide when to use their powers to deal with empty properties, and they have the flexibility to focus on locally determined priorities and allocate their resources accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 13/09/2021 16:24:10 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

1225630

registered interest
date	16/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a Housing Conversion Fund to support social landlords seeking to purchase unsold homes.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	75437
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>The Affordable Homes Programme supports the delivery of affordable housing, primarily in the form of new build but also by enabling providers to purchase homes from developers to be delivered as affordable housing where this helps support additional homes. We have made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 affordable homes in a wide range of tenures, including Social Rent and Shared Ownership. We announced at Budget that we will invest £12 billion to deliver affordable housing between 2021/22 and 2025/26 – this marks the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade and will deliver up to 180,000 affordable homes. We monitor affordable housing delivery and the state of the wider housing market closely and we will keep the need for any further measures under review.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 21/07/2020 13:18:37 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1181805

registered interest
date	02/03/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage housing authorities to (1) bring vacant houses into use, and (2) rehabilitate structurally sound buildings for social renting.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2067
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2020 answer text <p>Local authorities are equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. This includes social housing and there is an additional premium for every affordable home delivered. Billing authorities have the discretion to charge up to 100 per cent extra council tax – on top of the standard bill – on properties that have been empty for at least two years.</p><p>In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use. Local authorities have a variety of compulsory purchase powers which they can use to acquire and develop derelict or empty property, including for housing purposes. However, compulsory purchase is intended for use as a last resort and there must always be a compelling case in the public interest.</p><p>The Estate Regeneration National Strategy good practice guide (published December 2016) supports social housing landlords. It sets out the importance of assessing the estate, including over and under occupancy and opportunities for further development. We have also given local housing authorities the tools to deliver a new generation of council housing by removing the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap.</p> answering member printed The Earl of Courtown question first answered 16/03/2020 16:55:53 answering member 3359 label Biography information for The Earl of Courtown
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1170649

registered interest
date	14/01/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that empty buildings designed for use by the elderly are brought back into use as soon as possible.
tabling member constituency	Tonbridge and Malling
tabling member printed	Tom Tugendhat
uin	3246
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2020 answer text <p>Local authorities are equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. Since 1 April 2019, via the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018, local authorities have the discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax. In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use</p><p><br> The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local authorities’ plans and decisions should support efforts to identify and bring back into residential use empty homes and other buildings in general, supported by the use of compulsory purchase powers where appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Tatton answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 22/01/2020 17:34:06 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
tabling member	4462 label Biography information for Tom Tugendhat

1169537

registered interest
date	08/01/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many houses in (a) Huddersfield constituency, (b) Yorkshire and (c) England were unoccupied in 2019.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	1284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2020 answer text <p>Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Department’s live table 615 which is available at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes and those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.</p><p><a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fstatistical-data-sets%2Flive-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants&amp;data=02%7C01%7CNeil.Higgins%40communities.gov.uk%7C287bee7717f74973465408d7426cd735%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637050907535585592&amp;sdata=oZMnKFoOBnlW3avD00eataqrp0MQ5biah5ENfEuYEro%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants</a></p><p>Statistics on vacant dwellings at parliamentary constituency level are not centrally collected. Statistics for 2019 are scheduled to be published in Spring 2020.</p> answering member constituency Tatton answering member printed Esther McVey question first answered 16/01/2020 17:23:50 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1147150

registered interest
date	30/09/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will open funding programmes to tackle empty homes to community-led organisations who are not registered providers; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	292192
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>The Department has no current plans to establish funding programmes specifically targeted at renovating or preventing empty homes, nor to carry out a formal review of local authorities' powers in this respect. Local authorities are already equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. Since 1 April 2019, via the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018, local authorities have the discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax. In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use.</p><p>The number of long-term empty homes remains substantially lower than when records began. In October 2010, 299,999 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than 6 months; as of October 2018, there were 216,186 long-term empty properties. We do not have plans to make a further statement to the House on the issue at present.</p> answering member constituency Tatton answering member printed Esther McVey grouped question UIN 292188 292189 292190 question first answered 08/10/2019 10:27:26 answering member 4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1088257

registered interest
date	13/03/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to bring unoccupied properties back into use.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	231954
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2019 answer text <p>The Government has given strong powers and incentives to local authorities to tackle empty homes. From 1 April 2019, they will have discretion to increase the maximum level of premium charged on properties that have been empty for more than two years, from 50 per cent to 100 per cent extra council tax, through new powers afforded by the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018. In addition, the New Homes Bonus allows local authorities to earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as building a new one.</p><p>Under certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years in order to bring it back into use. They must provide evidence that the property represents a nuisance, and that there is community support for their proposal.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 18/03/2019 16:00:17 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1082356

registered interest
date	05/03/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of empowering local authorities to penalise landlords of commercial properties that are left vacant for lengthy periods of time.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	228589
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2019 answer text <p>Vacant properties are not in the interest of tenants, landlords or communities. That is why at Autumn Budget 2018, as part of Our Plan for the High Street, we committed to piloting a register of empty commercial properties and supporting communities to make use of empty properties as part of broad plans for the regeneration of our high streets and town centres. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s inquiry into High Streets and Town Centres in 2030, made a recommendation to review existing policy on vacant commercial properties. The Government is considering the recommendation and will publish our response to the Select Committee in due course.</p> answering member constituency Rossendale and Darwen answering member printed Jake Berry question first answered 11/03/2019 16:50:09 answering member 4060 label Biography information for Sir Jake Berry
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

1064193

registered interest
date	19/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of empty homes in the England; and what steps they intend to take to reduce the number of such empty homes.
tabling member printed	Lord Bird
uin	HL13840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Ministry’s live table 615 which is available (attached) at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes, those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants</a>.</p><p>There were 605,891 Vacant Dwellings in England on 2 October 2017, an increase of 16,125 (2.7 per cent) from 589,766 on 3 October 2016. Vacant dwellings were 2.5 per cent of the dwelling stock in England on 2 October 2017.</p><p>There were 205,293 Long-Term Vacant Dwellings in England on 2 October 2017, an increase of 5,148 (2.6 per cent) from 200,145 on 3 October 2016 but remain lower than when records began on 1 Nov 2004 (318,642). Long-term vacant dwellings were 0.9 per cent of the dwelling stock in England on 2 October 2017.</p><p>Rates of council tax charged on empty homes are a matter for individual local authorities, who will take into account local circumstances in reaching their decision. In 2018, 299 out of 326 authorities reported that they were charging a premium on some of their empty dwellings, up from 291 in 2017.</p> answering member printed Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth question first answered 04/03/2019 15:44:55 answering member 4282 label Biography information for Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth attachment 1 file name 190304 Live table 615 HL13840.xls title Live table 615
tabling member	4564 label Biography information for Lord Bird

1054877

registered interest
date	04/02/2019
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Empty Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has set a target in this Parliamentary Term for the reduction in number of long term empty properties as a result of the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	216156
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2019 answer text <p>Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Ministry’s live table 615 which is available at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes and those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.</p><p>The table can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants</a>.</p><p>Rates of council tax charged on empty homes are a matter for individual local authorities, who will take into account local circumstances in reaching their decision. In 2018, 299 out of 326 authorities reported that they were charging a premium on some of their empty dwellings, up from 291 in 2017.</p><p>The number of long-term vacant dwellings across England remains lower than when records began.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 07/02/2019 17:15:00 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell