New empty homes scheme launched

Bury is backing the Empty to Plenty scheme to bring empty homes back into use and help tackle the country’s housing shortage.

The scheme is being launched today (Monday 23 September) across Greater Manchester and aims to provide homes for local families and support for owners to help bring their wasted assets back to life.

There are more than 3,000 empty properties in Bury, and the council hopes that this initiative will help bring some of them back into occupation.

The council is working with the charity Empty Homes, central government and the Ecology Building Society to implement the project, which provides owners of empty properties with loans of up to £15,000 to improve their homes and rent them out at affordable rates.

The fund was one of the demands of last year’s Great British Property Scandal campaign led by architect and broadcaster George Clarke. Currently, owners of empty homes are often unable to access funds to bring the properties back into use, creating a vicious cycle of decline in areas with high numbers of empty properties. There are 710,000 empty homes in England.

The National Empty Homes Loan Fund (NEHLF) will enable access to secured loans at a fixed 5% interest rate, and will enable owners to renovate the property to Decent Homes standard.

The NEHLF has been funded by a grant of £3 million from central government and is being administered by Ecology Building Society, a specialist mortgage lender that supports sustainable communities. It should provide funding for hundreds of properties and is available to individuals aged 18 and over who own a property that has been empty for six months or more. 

Councillor Rishi Shori, Bury Council’s cabinet member for adult care, health and housing, said: “We know that many empty properties exist within our area because owners simply do not have the money that is required to bring them back up to a habitable standard and this initiative will make a start on tackling this.”

David Ireland OBE, chief executive of Empty Homes, said: “This scheme is a real first in England and is a great example of central government working together with the public and private sector to try and reduce the number of empty homes in the UK. 

“We hope the fund will enable hundreds of empty homes to be brought back up to standard and back into the housing stock.”

Commenting on the launch of the scheme, George Clarke said:  “I care passionately about getting England’s empty homes back into use for people who need them. This scheme provides real help to property owners to help achieve that.” 

Paul Ellis, chief executive of Ecology Building Society, said: “We exist to support projects that will benefit the environment and local communities, so it’s natural for us to want to support efforts to bring empty homes back into use. This can affect any street in any town. At a time when there is increasing demand for homes but an acute lack of supply it makes sense to bring new life to existing but neglected properties, and we want to help provide the incentive for people to take on an empty home.”

Individuals can either contact Bury Council for advice on 0161 253 5353 or directly through Ecology Building Society. 

Full details of the scheme can be found at www.agma.gov.uk/latestnews/emptytoplenty

ENDS

Press release issued: 23 September 2013.