A new report will recommend Cabinet approve Derby City Council’s largest purchase of vacant properties and associated land.
Once acquired, the nine properties would be renovated and reoccupied as housing accommodation, in line with the aims of the Council’s Empty Homes Strategy.
As well as adding much needed homes to the city’s housing stock, this move would also help tackle the nuisances that neglected properties can present, including trespassing, vandalism, fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.
Collectively, the properties in question are worth approximately £1.25m. They’ve all been vacant for several years and efforts to encourage the respective owners to bring them back into use have proven unproductive. Pending Cabinet approval, the Council would use Compulsory Purchase Orders to take ownership.
Since 2010, the Council’s Empty Homes team has worked to bring the number of long-term empty homes in the city down from 2,500 to 1,400.
For each property, the Council will consider if it can be added to the city’s existing affordable housing stock. Where this is not appropriate, sale to either another registered provider or on the open market will be considered.
Any homes remaining under Council ownership will have energy efficient measures installed. Exact measures will be determined on a property-by-property basis, but each will be improved to a minimum EPC ‘C’ rating or higher.
Councillor Shiraz Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning, and Regulatory Services, said:
Since becoming Cabinet Member for housing, I have actively promoted the purchase and reinstatement of empty homes.
With such high demand for housing in our city, to have properties sat empty is a real waste and can be a burden on the surrounding area. Our efforts to work with the owners being unsuccessful, so we have now had to step in to bring these properties back into use.
By intervening, we can provide much-needed homes for local families, generate more Council Tax, and address the negative social and environmental impacts of these empty properties.
Cabinet will meet on Wednesday 10 September. The papers can be viewed on the Derby City Council website.