December

2008
THE EMPTY HOMES AGENCY
Monthly News Bulletin

Empty Homes Agency, Downstream Building, 1 London Bridge, London, SE1 9BG
Tel: 020 7022 1870 Email: shashi.ioannides@emptyhomes.com
Statements in this newsletter are for guidance only and the Empty Homes Agency will not accept
liability for losses resulting from reliance on them. Professional advice should always be obtained.
Table of Contents

1 A Word….
2 Reportemptyhomes.com …
3 Event: Turning empty properties into homes
4 An answer to the supply crisis is lying empty – Martin
Hilditch – Inside Housing
5 Other News
E M P T Y H O M E S A G E N C Y

1
A Word…
David Ireland, Chief Executive

I have the privilege of seeing many great housing projects in this job. But occasionally I come
across one that is so good it feels truly uplifting; last week I saw not just one but two.

On Tuesday I took the opportunity of a meeting in Leeds to go and visit Canopy Housing
Project. The project run by a small local charity is now in it’s twelfth year has renovated thirty
eight derelict homes in Leeds and brought them back into use; in itself an impressive
achievement. But what it has achieved goes well beyond that. The houses it has taken on are
largely derelict old council homes in some of the more deprived areas of the city. The work is
carried out by volunteers, most of whom are unemployed and homeless, and when completed
the house becomes the home of one of the homeless volunteers.

The project has just started work in the Hayhills area of Leeds. It’s previous twenty houses
were in Beeston an area that the project can now point to as complete - there are now very
few empty council houses there. They have left behind a legacy, the bonds formed between
volunteers working on the houses have lasted, and people from very different backgrounds
have formed an informal network of friendships and alliances that looks set to last.

On Friday I saw similar ideas applied to a very new project, the modestly entitled “Room for
improvement” in Southwark, South London opened it’s first home. It too was a previously
vacant council property - a doctor’s surgery on a council estate that had been empty for many
years the property has been converted into office accommodation and a flat that will be a
home for a homeless family. The project was completed by another small charity Advocates
for the Homeless who have employed and trained homeless people to carry out the work.
Several of the trainees armed with new found building skills have now found work elsewhere.

What both of these projects have done is amazing. They have turned run-down vacant council
properties into homes for people who really need them and in the process equip unemployed
homeless people with the skills to find work. The term regeneration is applied willy-nilly these
days to anything involving building. But in my view this is regeneration in its truest sense.

In days where much of the news about housing is bad here are two stories that are full of
cheer. Well done to both of them and Happy Christmas to you all.

David Ireland
Chief Executive
Empty Homes Agency
Tel: 020 7022 1867
Email: david.ireland@emptyhomes.com

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2
Reportemptyhomes.com
ReportEmptyHomes.com has got off to a great start. Over four hundred empty homes have
been reported by the public and a few are back into use already. The purpose is to provide a
place where people can report empty homes easily and quickly, and receive feedback from
the council on what is happening.

If you want to report an empty property simply put the address or postcode in the box on the
homepage, you will be taken to a map. Click on where the empty property is. Fill in the details
and press send. You will need to go to your inbox and click on the link on the email we send
you for the report top be sent.

For local authorities here is a quick guide on what to do when you receive a report. If you
haven’t received one yet. a new report will come to you as an email and it will look like this:

Dear Empty Property Officer,

This is a new referral of an empty property in your area made

by a user of the website ReportEmptyHomes.com; the website user
has been told that the case has been referred to you. We would
be grateful if you could do whatever you can to help get this
property back into use. We will contact the user in a month and
again in six months and ask them what has happened to the
property.

We'd encourage you to tell us what you have done, and when the
property comes back into use, by filling in an update against
the property referral on the website:

http://reportemptyhomes.com/report/………………

This gives useful feedback to website users and helps them

understand what action you are taking. We will offer advice to
the user on other action they might take if the property isn't
successfully dealt with.

If you would like help or advice on getting empty properties

back into use there is lots of useful information on the Empty
Homes Agency's website www.EmptyHomes.com - if you have further
questions please give us a call.

----------

Name: ………………

Email: ………………

Subject: ………………

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Property type: ………………

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Details: ………………

The closest address is ………………

----------

Replies to this email will go to the user who submitted the

report, if you would like to ask for any further information.

Yours,
The Empty Homes Agency

To keep people informed on what you are doing please leave an update on the website. All
you need to do is click on the link on the email and follow the instructions. Lots of councils
have left updates. If you haven’t I’d encourage you to do so, it’s the best way of letting people
know you are on the case.

David Ireland
Chief Executive
Empty Homes Agency
Tel: 020 7022 1867
Email: david.ireland@emptyhomes.com

EVENT:
Empty Homes – Turning empty
properties into homes – 17th
February 2009, Manchester
About the Event

In England alone there are approximately 720,000 empty properties, over 80% of which are in the private
sector.

With this in mind how much of a housing shortage is there? Is tackling the Empty Homes Crisis the best
way to help tackle the shortage of affordable homes? Turning empty properties into homes not only has

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E M P T Y H O M E S A G E N C Y

benefits for the local authorities but also for the wider community as empty properties look untidy, attract
crime and tie up valuable revenue.

With the 2005 Empty Homes Agency Survey finding that a single refurbished home produces 6 times less
CO2 compared to the building of a new home the event will look at the envionmental implications of
Empty Homes and their refurbishment.

The event will also look at ways communities can be involved in reducing the number of Empty Properties
through a variety of methods. Successful stories of Empty Homes will be showcased showing the positive
effect that regeneration has had on the look of the neighbourhood and what effect regeneration has had
on the wider community.

A national perspective will be given looking at what the government’s plans are regarding the current crisis
and what plans they have regarding Empty Homes and the wider government agenda. With HMR
Pathfinders being introduced to help with the problem on a regional basis but receiving criticism for their
outcomes in the local press the event will feature a lively debate between a representative of the HMR
Pathfinders and one of their critics.

Each session will include the opportunity for questions and answers from the audience and the panel.

This event is set in the North of England, an area affected by the high number of Empty Properties. It is a
partnership event between The Chartered Institute of Housing and The Empty Homes Agency.

Benefits of attending this event

• Recognise the wider issues surrounding Empty Homes

• Gain a greater understanding of the environmental benefits of regenerating Empty Homes
• Receive top tips on how to involve the community in addressing the problem of Empty Homes
• Good Practice examples provided by organisations with Empty Homes success stories
• Network with fellow housing professionals and be involved in interactive discussions
• Participate and discuss your issues with speakers and fellow delegates
• Learn from credible and influential high profile speakers, leading housing professionals and

practitioners

Who Should Attend:

Chief Housing Officers, Directors of Housing and RSL Board Members, Heads of Allocations and Lettings,
Regeneration Directors and Managers, Market Renewal Pathfinder Executives, Chartered Surveyors and
Town Planners, Lettings Officers, Community Groups, Tenant and Resident Representatives, Empty
Property Officers, Marketing Officers, Estate Managers and Private Sector Lettings Agents.

* Programme will include:

• Overview of the problem regarding Empty Homes

• Government perspective on Empty Homes
• Community Involvement in Empty Homes strategies
• Debate discussing the success of the HMR Pathfinders Initiative
• Examination of the environmental benefits of Empty Home Renovations
• Examples of successful Empty Homes projects

* Contributions Planned From:

• David Ireland, Chief Executive, Empty Homes Agency

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• Sarah Webb, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing

• John Earnshaw, Chief Executive, Lansdown Housing & Regeneration Consultancy

*Programme may be subject to minor changes

Delegate Price:

Discounted CIH Member Rate £265 +VAT | Delegate Rate £297 +VAT

Discounted CIH Member Rate applies to members who have chosen the Training and Events Flexible
Benefits Package

The delegate price includes a comprehensive delegate pack, all refreshments and lunch. You can earn up
to 4 hours towards your CIH Continual Professional Development

All prices are subject to VAT

Special Offers

Book 2 delegates and send a third delegate for half price (all 3 bookings must be received together)

To Make a Booking

You can book your place on this conference in one of the following ways:

• Use the CIH online booking form (Booking Code: 15918)

• Or download a booking form (PDF: 39 kb)

and return to:

CIH Training & Conferences,

Octavia House,
Westwood Way,
Coventry CV4 8JP

Tel: 024 7685 1772

Fax: 024 7642 1973
E-mail: training.conferences@cih.org

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E M P T Y H O M E S A G E N C Y

4
An answer to the supply crisis is
lying empty
Martin Hilditch – Inside Housing

The box of financial tricks opened in last week’s pre-Budget report was welcomed by most in
the housing world.
There was one man, however, who was sorely disappointed by the absence of help for the
particular problem he is tasked with tackling: vacant properties.

‘I’m afraid I found nothing,’ said David Ireland, the chief executive of the Empty Homes
Agency, at his organisation’s annual conference last week.
‘[I found] a fund to buy up flats from bankrupted builders. A fund to try and get housing
associations to try and build more homes. Nothing to address this problem. I feel almost a
sense of anger about that.’

The agency estimates that there are 939,000 vacant homes in the UK, a figure which is likely
soar past the 1 million mark next year. The sheer scale of the problem is such that more,
much more needs to be done to address it, Mr Ireland said.

‘We have got overwhelming vacancies and overwhelming housing need,’ he said. ‘There is
something wrong with the housing system that delivers this.’

The agency has a number of ideas about what should be done. These range from allowing
short-term occupancy of homes that have been left empty to allow major regeneration
schemes to proceed, to holding fire on demolition schemes in market renewal areas until the
land is bought up by a developer.

Mr Ireland was also concerned that rising repossession rates would make the empty homes
issues even worse.

According to the agency, only 20 per cent of homes repossessed have actually been
reoccupied.

One family that contacted the agency exemplified the situation.

‘[Their home was] repossessed earlier this year and they were put in some temporary
accommodation they felt wasn’t very satisfactory,’ said Mr Ireland.

‘They saw their house standing there empty [and] they decided to break back in. Nobody
seems to have noticed.’

Mr Ireland said the Empty Homes Agency was supposed to be against squatting but in such
situations ‘it feels like we are in the wrong’.

Anne Power, professor of social policy at the London School of Economics, said her ‘very
rough’ calculations suggested that millions of new homes could be provided if all empty
housing and buildings were brought back into use.

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E M P T Y H O M E S A G E N C Y

‘How much can empty buildings offer per se? Let’s say - as [Mr Ireland] says - that empty
homes give us an extra 1 million homes.

‘Unwanted commercial property - of unknown capacity - may offer [space for another] 1 million
homes. Empty rooms [in under-occupied homes] may offer a further 1 million spaces.

‘[This figure] coincides with what the government needs.’

Professor Power added that more people should be encouraged to subdivide under-occupied
homes to provide more space to house people.
She has put her money where her mouth is by subdividing her own property.

‘We turned our single house into three households and cut our energy use by 60 per cent
despite extending the number of people threefold,’ Professor Power said.

The government has placed the onus on councils in England to reduce the number of empty
homes, according to Terrie Alafat, director of housing and strategy at the Communities and
Local Government department.

Ms Alafat said that the government was ‘continuing’ to push for councils to think strategically
and make links between housing pressures in their areas and the number of empty homes
they have.

‘We do not believe at this point that more legislation is the answer. I think our sense is that
local authorities have many powers to bring empty properties back into use.

‘There is always the question about the extent to which existing legislation is being put into
practice and if it is not, why not?’

Making the best use of existing homes ‘should be an important element of every local
authority strategy’, Ms Alafat said. Residents also had powers to petition councils to bring
empty properties back into use, she added.

But whoever takes responsibility for filling unused properties, there was widespread
recognition at the conference that empty homes are a sizeable problem.

And with house building slowing and waiting lists soaring, it’s an issue that is beginning to
appear increasingly unjust.

To view the article on the Inside Housing website please click here

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5
Other News

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++

How web tools could help the economy - 20th November 2008
The Guardian - UK
Barack Obama has shown with resounding success how internet innovations - from
Facebook to Twitter - can help win elections. But can similar tools help solve the economic
problems facing Gordon Brown and other political leaders trying to jump-start a stalled
global economy?

Waste Not Want Not - 21st November 2008

Inside Housing - UK
Among all the talk of falling house building rates, another threat to housing supply is
rearing its head again - vacancies.

How web tools could help the economy - 20th November 2008
The Guardian - UK
Barack Obama has shown with resounding success how internet innovations - from
Facebook to Twitter - can help win elections. But can similar tools help solve the economic
problems facing Gordon Brown and other political leaders trying to jump-start a stalled
global economy?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For more on latest Empty Homes Agency Press Releases and Other Empty Property
News please visit:

http://www.emptyhomes.com/latestnews/latest_news.html

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