Empty Homes (Hansard, 7 July 1999)

§ Mr. David Kidney (Stafford)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for reducing the incidence of vacant dwellings; to extend the duties and powers of local authorities to that end; to require local authorities to publish empty homes strategies and to exercise their duties and powers in accordance with those strategies; and for connected purposes. The Bill is my contribution to stopping the unnecessary building of new homes on green-field sites. We should first make the best use of existing properties standing empty. It is also my contribution to trying to ensure that all our citizens have access to decent homes that they can afford.

I know from a housing development that is taking place in Stafford just how strongly residents feel about new building on open fields on the edges of our towns and cities. Such developments detract from urban regeneration, encroach on our countryside and increase traffic.

According to the written answer to a recent parliamentary question from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Sir M. Spicer), there are more than three quarters of a million properties standing empty. That figure has remained fairly constant for years. Six out of every seven of them are privately owned.

The hon. Gentleman also asked why more cannot be done to use existing housing stock, rather than building excessively on green-field land. I agree. I want more to be done, and the Bill represents my ideas for action.

Local authorities have a vital role in helping to bring back into use empty properties that are otherwise up to standard. The best authorities already have empty homes strategies that inform and direct their efforts. In its guidance to local authorities, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions encourages all of them to prepare and publish such strategies. Alas, a recent survey by the Empty Homes Agency of all 354 local authorities in England and Wales revealed that only about half of them have developed a formal strategy.

A good strategy can ensure that policies are based on reliable information about the scale of the problem and the opportunities that exist. It can raise awareness of empty homes as an issue that must be tackled. It can provide for targets and monitoring, and for liaison with housing partners and with residents. Such a strategy can bring together resources and priorities for using them. Help for owners can be made available through renovation grants, and help for people who intend to become tenants can be made available through rent deposit and rent guarantee schemes.

All authorities ought to set targets for reducing the number of empty homes in their areas. They should ensure that full and accurate information is assembled, that all their resources available for meeting the targets are identified and that the actions that will be taken are clearly defined and predictable.

As most of the empty properties are in the private sector, authorities must have comprehensive strategies. They must work with owners, letting agents and housing professionals; they need the support of the public; and they must set a good example by making sure that council 1051 houses are fully utilised and do not stand empty in excessive numbers or for excessive periods. Of course, they must also have sufficient powers of persuasion and compulsion, which is where my Bill comes in.

Under the Bill, every local authority would be required to designate an empty homes officer who would be responsible for the work of the council in reducing the number of empty homes. The officer would be important for co-ordinating the work of the council across all departments and between it and other organisations. The officer should have full power to obtain the necessary information from all sources, including council records such as council tax data. Every local authority would be required to prepare and publish an empty homes strategy setting out local housing need and the number of empty homes; the targets for reducing the incidence of homes standing empty; the actions to be taken to reduce the number of empty homes; and how success would be measured.

My Bill would also allow local authorities to vary the council tax payable on properties standing empty, depending on local priorities. I envisage a range from 50 to 200 per cent. of the standard tax. The empty homes strategy would set out the criteria that would be applied to determine what rate would be charged. Currently, we appear to reward owners for keeping property empty. They are entitled to a 50 per cent. discount on their council tax if a property stays empty. Indeed, the Government have recently moved to end an even bigger seal of approval—nil council tax when a property awaiting major renovation work has stood empty for more than a year.

Additionally, my Bill would extend local authorities' power of compulsory purchase to allow them to acquire properties that are kept empty for unacceptable reasons or for an unreasonably long period. Again, the strategy would set out the criteria that the authority would apply in deciding when to exercise that power. I have come across situations in my Stafford constituency in which property stands empty, but the existing powers of compulsory purchase are not wide enough to allow the local authority to step in and buy the property.

We should consider the effects on neighbourhoods and on the immediate environment of properties standing empty for long periods. They become targets for vandalism and a honeypot for crime. They lower the prices of surrounding property and attract fly tipping. Those are all deeply unattractive consequences for other residents. We should consider it socially unacceptable for good homes to be allowed to stand empty, to deteriorate and to bring down standards for neighbours as well.

In introducing the Bill, I thank those who have helped and supported me. The Empty Homes Agency, which is a charity, has given me enormous support through 1052 Ashley Horsey, its energetic chief executive and successor to the redoubtable Bob Lawrence. Similarly, the charity Shelter has helped—I should say inspired—me to keep up the pressure for housing policies that give everyone the chance of somewhere decent to live. I also thank the Law Society, which has assisted me with the drafting of my Bill, and of course my supporters, who come from all the main parties.

Will my ideas become law? I am sure that they will. Perhaps it is too late in the Session for the Bill to reach the statute book, but I have high hopes that much good will come of it. Since I proposed it, Lord Rogers has reported on the work of the urban task force. The report looks at the prospects for the Government meeting their target for 60 per cent. of new homes to be built on brown-field sites. I am delighted that all three of my main suggestions—the empty homes strategy, variable council tax and a wider power of compulsory purchase—appear in the 100 recommendations.

The task force has identified empty commercial property in addition to empty homes that could be used to provide homes for people. That raises to 1.3 million the number of homes that could be provided before we turn to new house building to meet the anticipated demand for more homes.

The Government have promised to produce a housing Green Paper later this year, which encourages me to believe that they may also produce a housing Bill. Such a Bill would, of course, be expected to deal with other important issues relating to homelessness, standards of fitness and an adequate supply of social housing; but I hope that the Government will also give careful consideration to my Bill, and to the suggestions that I have made.

Tackling the scandal of empty homes is essential for planning and for social reasons. It is also a priority that I believe would command widespread public support. Most important of all, it will help us to meet real, compelling housing needs.