Loans and grants to bring empty properties back into use

An empty home brought back into use through work carried out by local trainees

Rochdale Borough Council is considering giving loans and grants to property owners to bring empty properties and derelict land back in to use.

The Council Cabinet has approved a public consultation of the revised Empty Properties, Dilapidated Buildings and Derelict Land Strategy should be underaken.

The Council’s existing Empty Property Strategy dates back to 2008. The revised policy would support and be integral to several of the Council’s corporate priorities, and the bringing back into use of empty property was an important aspect of the revised Housing Strategy.

In a report by the Director for Economy and Environment, Mark Widdup, the Cabinet was told that leaving market forces to return empty properties to use only resolved a small number of cases, and facilitation or enforcement was seen as having greater effect. Landlords often faced low returns from rent due to the high cost of capital works; the use of grants and loans allowed landlords to consider returns over a longer term.

A trial exercise using the Rochdale Housing Initiative to deliver elements of empty property work had generated financial benefits, and it was therefore proposed to continue this arrangement.