A few weeks ago I blogged about our empty homes campaign gaining momentum in Reading.
An update on empty homes is on the Cabinet agenda on 14 April.
This issue came to the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel first a few weeks ago.
I have received a lot of positive feedback from residents in the ward to the news that the long-term empty property on Christchurch Road is being refurbished with a view to bringing it back into use soon.
This is a good first step but across the Borough there are still a lot of properties sitting empty in Reading and the record of the Labour-run Council has not been good in this area. The Executive only took action after a long-running Lib Dem campaign.
Anyway, you can download the Update report to Cabinet and the Labour administration's response to recommendations agreed by members of HHCC Scrutiny Panel in March, here.
I drafted these recommendations following a detailed discussion with David Ireland, the UK's leading expert on tackling empty homes and Chief Executive of the independent campaigning charity, the Empty Homes Agency.
He suggested some key areas where Reading Borough Council's strategy and approach to bringing empty homes back into use could be improved.
I have to say having read the offical response to our recommendations I'm less than impressed. Reading the report might give you the impression that we don't have an empty homes problem in Reading or worse, that no additional effort is required.
There must be no room for complacency from Labour-run RBC on this issue. Nationally, Labour ministers seem to have acknowledged, after a long period of burying their heads in the sand that councils need more support and guidance if empty homes are going to be brought back into use.
Inside Housing recently launched a national campaign to highlight the need for action on empty homes. I have added my name to the'Empty Promise' petition on the No 10 website and I would encourage you to do the same.
I will continue to shine a light on this critical issue and campaign for more action from RBC which becomes more urgent the deeper we slide into a recession.
Perhaps as a result of my active campaigning on the subject I have been invited to take part in a seminar being held by the Department for Communities and Local Government into tackling empty homes later this month where I hope to be able to pick up more best practice advice from other members and officers about what else we can do here in Reading.
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