DAVID STOTT Housing Consultant Associate of the Empty Homes National Empty Homes Loans Manager

Blaby District Council 2013 Thank you for inviting me to speak at the conference today. The theme is Blaby and Beyond I want to tell you a little story Ssh Now not a lot of people know this But the message is getting out there in spite of that

Blaby District Council 2013 Blaby have been looking at their empty properties and re-assessing their options Blaby have amended their approach to adopt a promise to take action on their empty properties All the empty properties are now ranked and action letters are sent out to the owners The actions always start with assistance and support Blaby are always there to help and that option can be all that is needed

Blaby District Council 2013 However sometimes that assistance is rejected Sometimes the owners choose to not engage and resolve their empty property Blaby are now able to instigate the options through the support elements Blaby are now able to enforce the owners to resolve the property And Blaby are doing just that!

Blaby District Council 2013 Steve Beard, Jon Wells, Ian Jones, Ella, Amy and the team have made the difference Blaby have adopted the new approach on empty homes Many Blaby departments are collaborating from Council Tax to Building Control and are now working to achieve one main aim and objective Zero tolerance on vacant blighted empty properties I will list what Blaby now offers in its empty property toolkit

Blaby District Council 2013 Assistance Loans Advice Assisted Sales Information Legal Notices to carry out works Works in default Debt Recovery Enforced sales Compulsory Purchase orders Empty Dwelling Management orders

Blaby District Council 2013 They have 4 stage letters on action Empty property matrix’s Uplifted the council tax charges on empty properties Mail shot on the empty properties Pro active enforcement on empty properties Professional advice on option appraisals and powers Linked inspections between sections Process guide that leads through the various options

Blaby District Council 2013 Onto the facts 682,000 empty properties in England 1.7 million on housing waiting lists Blaby has In 2009/10 finished 157 th grant payments in 2011 In 2010/11 finished 193 rd grant payments in 2012 In 2011/12 finished 84 th grant payments in 2013 That payment achieved 345k for that level of performance

Blaby District Council 2013 To put matters into perspective For an Authority the size of Blaby to finish at 84 th out of 350 Local Authorities on bringing empty properties back is a tremendous achievement. Similar to ( I will be careful here) Leicester City playing in the Champions League!! Many of the Authorities in the top quartile with Blaby have a lot more resources and assistance. Blaby has built this on a will to do more and be better They are there, led by Steve and Jon and are continuing to build on that excellence and best practice

Blaby District Council 2013 So what do you need to do to help this You need to keep the focus on the programme and use invest to save principles. Under those principles you need to invest a small percentage of the NHB that you receive back into the services that has made the difference to enable a bigger difference as we move forward You need to back and enable the officers to develop and deliver the strategies and policies to keep the theme You need to let people know it’s a zero tolerance in Blaby on empty homes and its not a secret

Blaby District Council 2013 There is always a down side in these matters The main problem for Blaby is that when the zero tolerance policy on empty properties is applied to the private owners and landlords. That same policy is applicable to the RSL and RP’s in the District We have a number of representatives in the room today. All the powers are enforceable on you in exactly the same way as the private owners Blaby need you at their side You need to be proactively resolving your empties as well. You need to demonstrate best practice to lead the rented sector and lead by examples of you achieve those standards

Blaby District Council 2013 Let me finish with an actual case study in Blaby This property is in the Blaby Area I cannot tell you the actual address but the street name was a hit for The New Vaudeville Band in the 70s If you know it from that or the obscure pictures I am about to show you have deduced that yourselves Empty for 11 Years Prominent position Completely blighted and overgrown No reason to be empty

Blaby District Council 2013

We inspected the empty property Notices and action letters were served on the owner The owner was in the legal profession and had held it empty for 11 years for no reason Notice of entry HA 2004 section 239. PDPA harbourage at front, sect 29 LGMP secure, section 215 planning 1990 blight to the area

Blaby District Council 2013 The owner attended the property as instructed with the officers from Blaby Vainly argued to defend the reason for leaving it empty With the raft of notices ready and prepared to be served The owner admitted the errors of his ways and under the available options offered in the front overgrown garden of ‘Blaby takes it off you’ or ‘you do something’ Chose to do something

Blaby District Council 2013

Works began as outlined in the picture Property is now completely refurbished The owner is saying it is now provisionally sold The sad point is that it should have been a home for the last 11 years The good news is it is going to be now When I stood at the front I could not see any other empty properties or poorly kept properties Really nice area and although we have forgiven the owner it really was not on in the first place

Blaby District Council 2013 The example is only one of a number Blaby can put forward All down to the changes implemented by Blaby The benefits for the area and the residents who need a property to make their home is clear to see. You really need to build on this initiative and you will go from strength to strength and if you do You will confirm your top quartile standing You will maximise your reward grant allocation Your area and residents will benefit from your lead Congratulations to Blaby and her officers. Apart from the financial benefit to the Authority the benefits are shared by all who live in her neighbourhoods, wards and districts or want to. In a difficult climate the Authority is going about this the right way, upwards and onwards

Blaby District Council 2013 I look forward to meeting you in the workshop Thank You David Stott