£486,000 boost for Rochdale’s empty and derelict homes

Derelict houses

Aksa Homes, who are part of New Charter Housing Trust Group, has received £486,000 in grant funding from the government to bring empty and derelict homes in the Rochdale borough back into use.

Aksa Homes will be working in partnership with Rochdale Council to bring 30 empty properties back into use.

A spokesman for Rochdale Council said: “Empty homes are not concentrated in any one area within the borough but are largely spread evenly out across it. Therefore the Round Two funding from the Empty Homes Funding Programme will be targeted at tackling empty homes across the borough. All types of houses and flats are eligible, however priority will be given to family housing.”

£91 million is being invested across England to refurbish and bring back into use over 6,000 empty and derelict homes and commercial premises, and in particular in the Midlands and North where the problem is most acute.

The funding will be spent on refurbishment in areas where empty properties have commonly led to problems such as squatting, rat infestation and collapsing house prices, driving remaining residents away.

Communities Minister, Don Foster said: “The government is doing everything possible to tackle the problem of empty homes and urban blight. This will bring people, shops and jobs back to once abandoned areas, and provide extra affordable homes we so badly need.

“We have already made very good progress, cutting the number of long term empty homes by 40,000 but with thousands of people in this country desperate to buy a home and areas still suffering problems of urban blight we must go further still.”

The funding is being allocated under two programmes:

• £61 million from the second round of the empty homes funding programme, provided to successful bidders eligible from all areas across England (except London, which will be announced separately) with empty homes. Around two thirds of this (£41 million) is allocated by the Homes and Communities Agency to registered social landlords; and the remaining money to community and voluntary groups. Together the 187 successful organisations will bring around 3,200 extra homes back into use.
• £30 million second year award of Clusters of Empty Homes programme funding for twenty partnerships in areas of acute problems such as Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Middlesbrough which will bring around 3,500 homes back into use.

£33 million of the empty homes programme funding will go to the North of England, with a further £11 million for the Midlands.

Don Foster has also called on councils to sign up to TV presenter and restoration expert George Clarke’s ten point review for housing regeneration areas.

The review supports ‘sweat equity schemes’, whereby people buy empty properties for a nominal price in exchange for an undertaking to refurbish them. The review also backs the government’s stance that demolition of properties should only ever be a last resort.

The government has already invested £130 million to refurbish up to 11,500 empty homes since 2010. This includes £100 million to bring empty property back as affordable housing, and the first ‘clusters of empty homes’ programme investment of £30 million.

In addition New Homes Bonus, under which government matches council tax income on new build or empty homes brought back into use, has supported over 50,000 empty homes being refurbished for people and families to live in and rewarded councils with £59 million.

Councils now also have the power to charge owners 150% council tax rate for properties left empty for more than six months, using the money to keep down council tax for ordinary families.

Owners of empty properties in the borough wishing to obtain more information about the scheme can contact the Empty Properties Team on 01706 924041.