Empty homes strategy 2022-2025 | Shropshire Council

All four of the objectives under the empty homes strategy will be impacted. These are:

Objective one: Maintain relevant, accurate and current information relating to empty homes in the area
Objective two: Bring empty homes back into use through encouragement, advice and assistance
Objective three: Where all other negotiation has failed, consider options for taking the appropriate enforcement action to ensure empty homes are brought back into use
Objective four: Raise awareness of the empty homes strategy with residents, dwelling owners and town and parish councils

The current position in respect of each priority for action, as agreed by Cabinet under the four objectives, are set out in table one below.

Table one

Objective: 1
Priority for action: Introduce a web-based system to enable parish and town councils, community groups and residents to report empty dwellings
Current position: Web-based system not introduced; however, reports of empty homes are regularly received from town and parish councils
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Web-based system would not be implemented; there will be no dedicated resource to respond to reports received

Objective: 1
Priority for action: Continue to receive monthly update reports on residential empty dwellings from Council Tax
Current position: This has been undertaken and is currently ongoing
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Would cease

Objective: 1
Priority for action: Ensure all empty dwellings which are empty for over twelve months have a completed scoring matrix
Current position: This has been undertaken
Scoring matrix – 355
(since Jan 2023)
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Would cease

Objective: 2
Priority for action: Contact owners of dwellings empty for over six months to establish reason why dwelling is empty, provide advice and initialise the completion of a scoring matrix.
Current position: This has been undertaken
Contacts - 99
Visits - 456
(since Jan 2023)
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Would cease

Objective: 2
Priority for action: Explore opportunities for establishing an empty homes “purchase and repair” scheme
Current position: No progress
Impact if empty homes service ceases: May be opportunities to progress as not wholly dependent on the dedicated Empty Homes officers

Objective: 2
Priority for action: Investigate options for the Council to introduce a social lettings agency, including opportunities with STAR Housing
Current position: No progress
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Will continue to be investigated as not wholly dependent on the dedicated Empty Homes officers

Objective: 3
Priority for action: Establish an Enforced Sale Procedure
Current position: Partly progressed
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Will not be progressed

Objective: 3
Priority for action: Establish an Empty Dwelling Management Order procedure
Current position: No progress
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Will not be progressed

Objective: 3
Priority for action: Establish a Compulsory Purchase Order procedure
Current position: No progress
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Will not be progressed

Objective: 3
Priority for action: Ensure that the matrices for dwellings empty for over two years are kept up to date and dwellings prioritised for potential enforcement action
Current position: This has been undertaken
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Would cease

Objective: 4
Priority for action: Establish a media campaign to publicise the Empty Homes Strategy
Current position: Various media channels have been used to publicise the strategy
Impact if empty homes service ceases: Would cease

The fundamental impacts of ceasing to fund the dedicated empty homes officers is that the Council will be unable to:

Take a proactive approach to bring empty homes back into use;
Risk assess empty homes using the scoring matrix; or
Respond to complaints regarding empty homes when there are no wider safety or public health issues.

Any response will only be reactive and will have to be balanced against the Council’s other mandatory statutory functions, with interventions implemented only in situations where the risk of harm reaches a very significant level.