Harrogate council to make offers on three empty homes

Harrogate Borough Council is to offer to buy three long-term empty homes in Harrogate.

A report before the council’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Cllr Mike Chambers, proposes the local authority makes an offer on the properties in order to bring them back into use.

The homes are located in Rothbury Close, Osborne Road and Eleanor Road in Harrogate.

The report says the council intends to sell the properties on the open market, with any profits being spent on future empty home purchases.

The council can issue compulsory purchase orders which allow it to take ownership without the consent of the owner. However, the council’s first step is to make an offer.

Read more:

The price the council is likely to offer for the properties is not disclosed, although the report notes offers were made in 2019 for three empty properties at a combined sum of £625,000.

There are currently 749 properties across the district that have been empty for six months or longer.

Of these, 209 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years and consequently classified as long-term empty homes. A total of 28 have been empty for over 10 years.

The council prioritised the problem in its 2019 empty homes strategy although it said much of the responsibility was on homeowners themselves.

It has a budget of £2.5 million to spend on empty homes, which comes from its reserves.

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty. Sometimes, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent. Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them.

Rentals can also fall below safety standards, which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

The report adds: 

“Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment. 

“They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”

Council set to use compulsory purchase order on two empty homes in Harrogate district

Two houses which have been empty and in a state of disrepair could be brought back into use with compulsory purchase orders.

Harrogate Borough Council is considering the unusual move after extensive efforts to encourage the owners to improve the homes have failed.

A report due to be considered by the council’s committee tomorrow recommends beginning the CPO process for 16 Greenfields Drive in Harrogate and 4a Beech Lane in Spofforth.

It said:

“Compulsory purchase is usually a last resort, as the preference is to acquire by voluntary agreement wherever practicable. This is in accordance with the council’s empty homes strategy.

“It is considered, however, that the council has made every effort to secure the return to use of these properties and CPO is now the only realistic option. Although the offer of voluntary acquisition will remain open to the landowners throughout this process.”

Housing growth officer James Tuck said the “massive shortage of housing stock within the Harrogate district” justified the CPO for the two homes.

His report said there were 2,006 households on the council’s waiting list for rented housing, with a rented affordable housing shortfall of 208 homes and affordable sale housing of around half that number, according to the council’s housing and economic development needs assessment.

Regarding the Spofforth home, the report said:

“A letter was sent to the property in March 2019 as part of a complaint that it was empty. Initially it was very difficult to make contact with the owner despite numerous letters being sent.

“Once contact was made the owner agreed to resolve the external issues and plan to get the property occupied again. Despite occasional correspondence since, deadlines have frequently been missed and little progress has been made.

“The property was scored as part of the empty homes database and was observed at the time to be in a poor state of repair with overgrowth and looking generally rundown.

“Concerns have been raised by a local councillor and attempts have been made to establish a timeline with the owner but deadlines are regularly missed and the property remains empty.”

Read more:

The home in Harrogate was brought to the housing department’s attention by the environmental health team, while the owner was being pursued for council tax payments.

The council’s empty homes officer began trying to make contact in July 2021 but received no response, the report said. It added:

“The property was scored as part of the empty homes database and was observed at the time to be in a very bad way with an overgrown garden, disused car in the drive, windows needing paintwork, a board covering the back garden, and in a very rundown state of repair.

“In August 2021 the cabinet member for housing and safer communities approved the empty homes officer to make an offer to purchase the property and a letter was sent to the owner requesting a meeting to arrange a formal, independent RICS valuation of the property.

“No response was received so a second letter was sent advising enforcement action would now be pursued.”

Any CPO would need to be approved by the government’s secretary of state for communities and local government.

Rise in empty homes adds pressure on Harrogate district housing market

The number of empty homes in the Harrogate district has increased post-covid despite the district’s severe shortage of affordable housing.

Harrogate Borough Council figures show there are currently 801 properties that have stood empty for more than six months – up from 758 in February.

There are also 204 properties that have been empty for over two years, while 30 have been vacant for over a decade.

This comes at a time when housing is in desperate need, with high property prices and a national decline in real wages forcing residents out of Harrogate, which remains as one of the most unaffordable places to live in the UK.

There are also around 1,800 households on the council’s housing register.

The council said it has continued efforts since introducing an empty homes strategy in 2019, although it added much of the responsibility to ensure these properties don’t put pressure on the housing market was on homeowners themselves.

It said in a report: 

“The council has agreed to pursue enforcement action where necessary as part of the empty homes strategy.

“Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment.

“They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”

The council has carried out enforcement action on several empty properties through compulsory purchase orders which allow it to take ownership without the consent of the owner.

Read more:

However, the council’s first step is to always make an offer to buy these buildings.

It has set aside £2.5 million for this and has recently proposed to buy three buildings on Almsford Road, Rawson Street and Hartwith Drive in Harrogate, and one on Kings Road in Knaresborough.

The council said there is “no guarantee” that an empty homeowner will agree to sell and that in order to take enforcement action the authority must demonstrate it has “exhausted all efforts” to return the property to use.

It said:

“This includes enabling the empty homeowner to sell their home voluntarily.

“In cases where an offer is refused this forms the basis of reviewing further enforcement action such as compulsory purchase, enforced sale or an empty dwelling management order.”

Why are homes left empty?

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them. Rentals can also fall below safety standards which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

What else can be done? 

As well as carrying out compulsory purchase orders, the government has also given councils powers to charge an additional 100% council tax on properties that have been empty for two years.

Empty dwelling management orders can also be issued for long term empty properties that are attracting vandalism and causing a nuisance to the community.

Residents urged to report empty homes to help solve Harrogate’s housing crisis

Harrogate district residents are being urged to report empty homes as new figures show some progress has been made on the problem which is contributing to the housing crisis.

Harrogate Borough Council has faced calls to take greater action to bring empty homes back into use at a time when around 1,800 households remain stuck on the social housing waiting list due to a “desperate” lack of affordable properties.

Figures now show some progress has been made, with the number of homes empty for more than two years falling from 228 in 2019 to 205 this week.

There is still much ground to be made, but the council said the figures show it is taking positive action.

Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities, is now asking more property owners to bring their empty homes back into use as he also urged residents to report any cases to the council as part of a national week of action.

He said:

“We want to work with property owners who, for whatever reason, have an empty property that could be better used to provide a home for local people.

“There are options available, including the empty homes loan or rent bond scheme to carry out repairs or improvement works and bring them back into use.

“I’d urge anyone who is interested to get in touch.”

Read more:

Other figures show the number of Harrogate district homes empty for more than six months has also fallen from 838 in 2019 to 758 this week.

‘We can’t afford to waste properties’

This comes at a time when campaign group Action on Empty Homes says the nation has seen a “massive rise” in cases as it also calls for councils to be given greater powers “to act where owners and landlords won’t or can’t”.

The campaign group said:

“We believe that we cannot afford to waste such properties.

“In England 100,000 families are trapped in often poor quality, insecure temporary accommodation, which does not meet the standards that are required of the permanent, secure, social housing these families are entitled to.”

There are numerous reasons why properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them.

Loan scheme

Harrogate Borough Council last year launched a loan scheme to help property owners carry out repairs. The loan is for anyone who does not have the money to carry out repairs to a property which has been empty for more than six months.

In what is described as a “last resort”, the council also has powers to carry compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) where efforts to bring empty homes back into use have failed and legal action is taken against landlords.

Just two CPOs were carried out in 2020/21 and the local Liberal Democrats previously said a stricter approach should be taken.

But councillor Chambers said the Conservative-run council would rather work with property owners rather than take legal action against them.

He said:

“When we have exhausted all options, we will look to make a compulsory purchase order to bring empty homes back into use.

“But we would much prefer working with property owners and highlight the options available to them.”

Councillor Chambers also said there are often empty properties which the council is unaware of, and he urged residents to report cases to the council’s empty homes officer.

Bid to bring Harrogate district empty homes back into use

A senior Harrogate councillor has agreed to offer taxpayers’ cash to buy three empty homes and bring them back into use.

Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at Harrogate Borough Council, signed off a decision at a meeting yesterday to make offers for the homes on Greenfields Drive and Electric Avenue in Harrogate, and Beech Lane in Spofforth.

If agreed by the owners, the council will appoint an independent valuer to provide a market valuation of the properties before selling them on the open market.

But if the offers are ignored or refused, enforcement action will be taken through compulsory purchase orders.

Councillor Chambers said:

“Empty properties are a blight for communities and the council will use all available power to bring them back into use, including assistance and enforcement action when necessary.

“Enforcement is the last choice and we have a range of options available to homeowners to assist them in returning their property to use.

“This includes the Empty Homes Loan made available last month. Owners with a property that has been empty for six months or longer can apply for a loan to undertake essential works on a property to return it to use.”

Read more:

811 empty properties in Harrogate district

There are currently 811 properties across the district that have been empty for more than six months – a figure which has risen from 774 in May.

Of the latest figure, 215 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years, while 31 have been empty for over ten years.

The council has previously admitted there is a “desperate” lack of affordable homes in the district and said it was working hard to bring empty properties back into use.

It has also set aside around £2.5m to purchase these properties from their owners.

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them, while others can also fall below safety standards which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

As well as carrying out compulsory purchase orders, councils also have powers to charge an additional 100% council tax on properties that have been empty for two years.

Empty dwelling management orders can also be issued for long term empty properties that are attracting vandalism and causing a nuisance to the community.

Harrogate council to offer £800,000 for three empty homes

Harrogate Borough Council is set to offer £811,000 for three empty homes in the district.

The homes, which are on Greenfields Drive and Electic Avenue in Harrogate, and Beech Lane in Spofforth, would not be used for social housing but instead would be sold on by HBC on the open market should the offers be accepted by the owners.

Any profits made would go back into buying more empty homes so they can be brought back into use.

There are currently 811 properties across the district that have been empty for six months or longer. Of these, 215 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years. 31 have been empty for over ten years.

Read more:

The report says:

“Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment. They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”

A report will go before HBC’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Conservative Cllr Mike Chambers, next week that asks him to rubber stamp the move.

If the council’s offers on the three homes are not accepted the report says HBC will consider enforcement action, such as compulsory purchase.

Letter: ‘Empty homes are in places where people don’t want to live’

This letter was sent to the Stray Ferret by Russell Davidson, a well-known Harrogate lawyer and former board member of Bradford and Northern Housing Association, in response to an article by Alex Goldstein in the Stray Ferret on empty homes last weekend. 

 

Dear Editor,

Having read Alex Goldstein’s article some facts need correcting. The majority of empty homes in the UK are substandard and in places where people simply do not want to live. A small number are high value homes owned by overseas investors which are rarely occupied yet unaffordable to most people.

I used to sit on the board of one of the largest housing associations.  We had empty homes that we had to get rid of because they were situated in areas where there were poor job opportunities or, simply, decaying inner cities. In one area, we built a brand new housing estate on local authority land. Unfortunately the local authority insisted on tenant nomination rights and decanted its worst council house tenants into that brand-new estate. Six families made life hell for everybody else, and so everybody else moved away. We ended up demolishing the entire new estate.

As far as Harrogate is concerned, it is misleading to point to over 2000 empty houses in the area (many of which are high value) and make a case that somehow dealing with that is going to solve the pressure to live in Harrogate, much of that pressure being directed towards less valuable three bedroom houses anyway. It would involve the council starting proceedings to compulsorily purchase those homes, a process which the council simply could not afford. Moreover, a large number of those houses are empty for a reason, such as pending probate issues.

As well as too many empty homes being in the ‘wrong’ areas, another issue is the structural tilt of the development market towards the 12 largest construction companies, some of which outbid the small builders on residential development sites. That tilt is getting worse because of the huge rise in the cost of building materials and labour shortages.

The government agency in charge of this issue, Homes England, needs to be a lot more radical in its thinking.

Regards

Russell Davidson

Read more:

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Council to launch loan scheme to bring empty homes into use

Harrogate Borough Council is to launch a loan scheme aimed at helping owners of empty homes bring them back into use.

The scheme is designed to help property owners to carry out essential repairs and improvements to houses which have been empty for more than six months.

Called the Empty Homes Loans scheme, the authority will target loans at those owners who want to carry out improvements but do not have the money to do so.

It will also prioritise properties which have stood empty for more than two years.

Read more:

Currently, there are around 200 private properties in the district that have been empty for more than two years.

Madeleine Bell, head of housing and property at the council, said:

“We want to work with property owners who, for whatever reason, have an empty property that could be better used to provide a home for local people.

“The Empty Homes Loan allows these property owners, who might not have the money to do so, carry out repairs or improvement works and bring them back into use. Anyone interested should get in touch with the private housing team to find out more.”

The loan can be used for essential repairs and improvements to an empty home, such as fixing faulty electrical wiring or a leaking roof or to bring it up to a standard so that it can be occupied again.

It will have no set repayment term and there are no monthly repayments. However it will be required to be paid back within five years of the work being completed or when the house is sold.

Calls for greater action on hundreds of empty homes in Harrogate district

There are calls for greater action to reduce the number of homes lying empty across the Harrogate district while thousands of residents remain stuck on the social housing waiting list due to a “desperate” lack of affordable properties.

Official data shows 774 homes have sat empty for more than six months – a figure which has fallen slightly from 838 in 2019 but councillors and campaigners say must come down at a more dramatic rate in order to get to grips with the housing crisis.

About 1,700 households are in the queue for council housing, and with property prices reaching record heights the fear is many may be stuck there for some time unless greater action is taken by Harrogate Borough Council.

The council itself has previously said there is a “desperate” need for more affordable properties but has defended its record on empty homes, with its cabinet member for safer communities and housing, councillor Mike Chambers, saying “every effort” is made to work with landlords and that tougher action is taken whenever necessary.

Councillor Chambers said:

“In the last two years, through this proactive approach, we have seen a 25% reduction of properties empty for more than five years.

“Our dedicated empty homes officer is working hard to identify empty properties, engage with owners and look at what else can be done to increase this reduction.

“It is important that everyone living in Harrogate district has the opportunity of a decent and quality home. We are committed to providing this and have a number of plans in place – such as requiring developers to provide a specific amount of affordable housing as well the aims of our own housing company Bracewell Homes – that will support local people into affordable rented homes or to get on the property ladder.”

Over the last 12 months, the council has carried out just two compulsory purchase orders where efforts to bring empty homes back into use have failed and legal action is taken against landlords as a last resort to force them to sell their properties.

The opposition Liberal Democrat group on the council said a stricter approach on compulsory purchase orders was needed to reduce empty homes, which are “compounding deeply entrenched problems” including high property prices, the lack of affordable homes and long stays in temporary accommodation.

Liberal Democrat leader councillor Pat Marsh said:

“I know there is a cost to compulsory purchase and the refurbishment of properties, but it still must be cheaper than buying on the open market and it means less green space being taken away.

“Alternatively, the council could actively build houses on land it owns, such as at Pannal.

“We cannot stand by and allow people to live in bed and breakfast or hostel accommodation for weeks on end and then the only accommodation we build is temporary on Spa Lane in Starbeck. People need homes on a permanent not temporary basis.

“With 1,700 people on the waiting list we need action now. Relying solely on the delivery of affordable homes from planning permissions for large development is never going to address this issue.

“When will this council start to take the issue of homelessness and lack of affordable housing seriously?”

What is the national picture?

Action on Empty Homes, which is England’s leading campaign group on the issue, has published figures which show numbers hit a record high in 2020 with 268,385 long-term empty homes across the country.

It is calling on the government to launch a national empty homes strategy backed by a £200m fund and new powers to support local authorities.

Through this fund, it wants to see a streamlining of compulsory purchase orders powers and more cash for community-led projects that sustainably refurbish long-term empty homes.

Read more:

Speaking earlier this year, Will McMahon, director of Action on Empty Homes, said:

“In 2020 there was a 20% rise in long term empty homes numbers with increases in nine out of every ten local council areas. That is a national scandal of wasted homes that mirrors our national housing crisis – and that calls into question why these homes are not being brought back to use to help address that.

“That’s why we call for a new programme of government investment and why we back local councils’ calls for better and simpler powers to act where owners and landlords won’t or can’t.”

Why are homes left empty?

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty. In some instances, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them. Rentals can also fall below safety standards which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

What else can be done? 

As well as carrying out compulsory purchase orders, the government has also given councils powers to charge an additional 100% council tax on properties that have been empty for two years.

Empty Dwelling Management Orders can also be issued for long term empty properties that are attracting vandalism and causing a nuisance to the community.

Over 1,000 homes in Harrogate district are empty

A total of 1,035 homes in the Harrogate district have been empty for six months or more.

The Stray Ferret obtained the figure from Harrogate Borough Council using the Freedom of Information Act.

The list shows the postcode of each home and when, according to council tax records, it became empty.

The data reveals 444 of the homes became empty in the last 12 months.

A total of 222 are in Band A, the lowest council tax bracket. Sixteen are in Band G, which is the highest.

Harrogate Liberal Democrat county councillor Geoff Webber said it was “obscene” to have over 1,000 properties empty when there has been homelessness in the district.

He also said HBC’s social housing waiting list currently stood at 1,523.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am very disappointed that Harrogate Borough Council, who are responsible for housing, has about 1,500 families on their housing waiting list when there are over 1,000 private properties are standing empty.

“Some of these properties, of course, will be unoccupied for a good reason, but it does seem obscene that pre-Covid we had people sleeping on the streets and currently have families in hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation when so many private properties are standing empty.”

The number of empty homes in the district is rising. According to government figures, there were 828 in November 2019.

Harrogate Borough Council has powers to encourage owners of empty properties to bring them back into use.

The council charges owners of properties that have been empty for two years or more a premium on their council tax. For example, for a property that has been empty between two and five years the council charges a 100% premium. This increases to 200% when a home has been empty for over five years.

The council can also take enforcement action against landlords, including compulsory purchase orders, enforced sales, and empty dwelling management orders.

A HBC council spokesman said:

“We work with property owners within the district to encourage and assist them to bring empty properties back into use as much-needed homes.

“Where this fails and homes remains empty we do not hesitate to take enforcement action including compulsory purchases.”

Read more:

According to national campaign group Action on Empty Homes, there are over 216,000 empty homes across the UK.

The group lobbies the government to give councils greater powers to put empty homes back into use.

When we showed the figures for the Harrogate district to Chris Bailey, campaign manager at Action On Empty Homes, he said homes were being “wasted”.

“This is despite the desirability of Harrogate and despite the increasing problems of housing need and homelessness amidst a wider national housing crisis, which coronavirus and its economic fallout can only worsen.”