In South Gloucestershire there are currently around 2000 empty private homes. The majority of these properties are in areas of high housing need and over 500 homes have been left empty for more than 6 months.
What is the Council going to do?
Like many local authorities South Gloucestershire Council has worked successfully with owners of empty homes and offered them help such as grants in return for bringing their properties back into use. Yet there are still private owners who will not act to bring their property back into use or offer any good reason why the property should not be used and let their property slip into decline. The new Empty Homes Strategy has been developed in partnership with a wide range of council officers and community stakeholders. The research undertaken for the Strategy found that a range of solutions is needed to tackle the problem of empty homes but it also found that a stronger emphasis is needed on enforcement action to tackle a number of long term problem empty properties.
How can I find out more?
- The new Empty Homes Strategy sets out the initiatives which the Council plans to implement over the next 5 years to maximise the re-use of empty properties across South Gloucestershire. You can download the Strategy from the 'read more' box on this page.
- If you would like to receive a copy of the Empty Homes Strategy by post, please e-mail emptyhomes@southglos.gov.uk or call Sarah McNamara, Empty Homes Officer on 01454 865565