Written question asked by Eric Forth (Conservative) on Friday, 7 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 October 2005. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 October 2005 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Empty Properties

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's policies are with regard to bringing into use vacant domestic properties in England.

Answer: The number of empty homes in England has fallen by 10 percent. since 1997, although the number remaining empty for longer than six months has remained roughly constant. We will shortly provide local authorities with new powers under the Housing Act 2004 to require owners to bring such properties back into use.We are currently consulting on the details of the secondary legislation which will be introduced next year. Once in force, local authorities will be able—as part of their plans to tackle housing shortages locally—to serve Empty Dwelling Management Orders on owners of empty properties, enabling homes to be improved and let to those needing rented accommodation. Properties will revert to the owners after seven years, or earlier if an authority is satisfied that the owner intends to sell or let the property himself.In some areas it may be more appropriate to demolish empty properties rather than attempt to bring them back into use, in which case local authorities can be expected to use their existing compulsory purchase powers. This is more likely to be the case in areas of low demand, but even in the nine market pathfinder areas the number of properties to be renovated is likely to exceed the number likely to be demolished by a factor of two.We will also continue to support the work of the Empty Homes Agency in identifying and publicising best practice on bringing empty homes back into use.

Secondary information