Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Protection on a review of the Empty Homes Strategy

            RESOLVED

            That the Empty Homes Strategy 2016-2020 be approved as submitted.

            REASONS

            To enable the Council to maintain a robust Empty Homes Strategy and to take into account that delivery of all of the strategy has been brought in-house.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Protection reported that the Council’s Empty Homes Strategy had been reviewed on 26^th April 2016 by the Private Sector Housing Policy Group to ensure that the strategy continued to deliver its objectives, reflected current best practice and was in line with legislation and national policy.  It had been considered that the existing policy met these objectives and only minor amendments were required to the strategy to take account of the fact that the delivery of parts of the strategy, previously undertaken by Brighton and Hove City Council, had been brought in-house.  Approval was therefore sought for the new Empty Homes Strategy for 2016-2020.

The Housing and Public Protection Policy Development Advisory Group supported the proposal.

            RESOLVED

            That the Empty Homes Strategy 2016-2020 be approved as submitted.

            REASONS

            To enable the Council to maintain a robust Empty Homes Strategy and to take into account that delivery of all of the strategy has been brought in-house.

Forward Plan item scheduled for Cabinet on 21 July 2016. Draft report of the Environmental Health and Licensing Manager.

The Environmental Health and Licensing Manager presented the draft Empty Homes Strategy to the group. The strategy was scheduled for Cabinet decision on 21 July 2016. The Council’s Empty Homes Strategy had been reviewed on 26th April 2016 by the now dissolved Private Sector Housing Policy Group to ensure that the strategy continued to deliver its objectives, reflects current best practice and is in line with legislation and national policy. It was considered that the existing policy met those objectives and only minor amendments were required to the strategy to take account that delivery of parts of the strategy, previously undertaken by Brighton and Hove City Council, had been brought in-house. The aims of the strategy were

·         to encourage homeowners and landlords to bring vacant homes back into use

·         to consider all the options available for tackling the problems and make every effort to bring the home back to a good standard and into use as a dwelling

·         to remove the negative impact empty homes in poor condition are having on their neighbourhood

The Chairman sought the views of the group, which were provided as follows:

·         Clarification of the status of specific empty properties

·         The need to understand how the empty home register was formed

·         Whether compulsory purchased orders (CPO) were considered

Officers responded to each issue in turn

·         That the specific empty properties mentioned were subject to an action plan, and that the Empty Homes Enforcement Group had been consulted  

·         Data from council tax was a primary source for populating the register

·         CPO was covered in Appendix 1 to the strategy

At the conclusion of its discussion, the group advised the Cabinet Member that it supported the draft Empty Homes Strategy 2016-2020.