Have your say on the future of empty homes in Shropshire

Residents, property owners and other interested groups are invited to comment on a new housing strategy which looks at tackling the issues of long-term empty homes in Shropshire.

Shropshire Council’s Empty Homes Strategy proposes setting up ‘Empty Homes Action Zones’ to focus on areas where there are significant numbers of empty homes, and the council wants to give local communities the opportunity to comment on the proposals being made.

The council will work in partnership with local agencies, communities and property owners to take up a range of options for bringing homes into use. Councillor Mal Price, Cabinet member for housing, said “One of Shropshire Council’s priorities for improvement is to provide a range of affordable housing options for Shropshire residents. A contribution towards this priority will be to increase the number of properties in the housing market and in particular reduce the number of long-term empty homes. We hope the community and key stakeholders will actively be involved in the delivery of the strategy through contacting the empty homes officers with any comments or concerns about empty homes in their local areas.”

Following a review of council tax discounts for empty homes, while there are some exceptions to the new rules, owners of properties which are vacant for over six months must pay the full rate of council tax. This is intended to encourage owners to ensure homes are occupied. The council will also continue to offer Empty Homes Grants to help owners where a property may need work carried out before it can be lived in, and has allocated additional resources to achieve this.

Councillor Roger Evans, member champion for affordable housing, said “The shortage of housing across many parts of the country means many ordinary people are unable to afford a decent home to rent or buy. There are 4,362 empty homes across the county, with 1,933 homes empty for more than six months, and we need to address this issue. The supply of affordable housing is a key priority for the council”.

The draft version of the strategy it is available to view online at www.shropshire.gov.uk/housing.nsf, or alternatively a hardcopy can be requested by calling the private sector housing team on 0345 678 9005.

Feedback forms can be found in the back of the strategy, and should be sent by email or by post to arrive no later than Friday 15 October.