Redlands Liberal Democrats

Campaigning to tackle Redlands' Empty Homes

On Saturday as part of my regular ward visits I spoke to residents on Alexandra Road and Upper Redlands Road about a property that has been empty since February 2011.

It lies at the top of Alexandra Road in the heart of the Alexandra Road Conservation area. Once a well-loved family home it now lies empty. This is a real shame - particularly when we know that pressure on housing in Reading is intense.

I heard that this property recently become infested with rats and saw for myself how the garden had become overgrown through lack of attention.

 
Thankfully following the successful Lib Dem campaign I led a few years ago Reading Borough Council has an effective empty homes strategy which includes prioritising empty properties in Conservation areas. 

And, as a result of the Budget we agreed with Conservative councillors earlier this we have resources devoted to actively reducing the number of long term empty properties in the Borough.

We will be lobbying Labour councillors to continue the work we started and continue funding this vital work.

I wrote to the empty homes officer about this particular property over the weekend and was reassured by him today that the owner is working as hard as he can to get themselves into a position to sell their property.

This is good news for all concerned.

I have asked the officer to keep an eye on proceedings to ensure that the property owner is helped to bring the property back into use swiftly and so this property does not become an eyesore.

Local homes back in use following successful Lib Dem campaign

Rain or shine, the hard work never stops here in Redlands, and it certainly does not stop when the elections are over. Today once again our local efforts paid off when we heard that two empty houses in the ward were recently brought back into use following a local campaign which I led. I have been campaigning since 2006 to bring empty homes in the ward and across Reading back into use. My campaign resulted in the then Labour-run Council adopting a much more effective policy and prioritising the problem after years of inaction. 

My campaign did not end there: as Chair of Scrutiny (2008-10) I requested regular updates on progress on empty homes work and this public scrutiny helped get more action taken by the Council. Following my success in Reading I also campaigned at a national level on this issue, lobbying ministers and spending a year as a Board Member of the Empty Homes Agency, a leading campaigning charity in this area.  

Anyway, we had a double helping of good news in Redlands today when were informed by officers that two properties - one on Christchurch Road and another on London Road that have been empty for very many years have been brought back into use as homes. This is good news for residents and the local area more generally and I am really grateful for all the work carried out by officers and landlords to get these properties to this position. It took me four long years of campaigning to get both  these two properties back into the condition they are in today. It involved regularly raising the state of these derelict properties with officers and responding to complaints from residents.

In the case of Alexandra House (103 London Road) this property was the site of ongoing anti-social behaviour, arson and was once a squat. This caused major aggravation to neighbours. 35 Christchurch Road, on the corner of Kendrick Road was an eyesore in the centre of a Conservation area. Residents contacted me from miles around the area to complain about the state it was in.

To read more about the background to my local campaign on empty homes please visit our archive of empty homes blog posts. I'll try and post some updated photos of these properties in their transformed state here soon.

Home win!

Great news today - after I blogged a few weeks about our campaign to bring long-term empty property 35 Christchurch Road into use I have been contacted by two people who have told me they have recently signed tenancy contracts and along with 8 others they are set to move into this property later this year. I have checked this info out with the empty homes officer at Reading Borough Council and fingers crossed it looks to be going ahead. I'm sure residents for miles around will welcome the return of this beautiful, historic building back into use. With 6,000 people on the housing waiting list and huge pressure to develop new housing in Reading it is vital that we make full use of existing resources. I have worked hard to get the issue of empty homes in Reading on to the local political agenda, and more recently to keep it there. I am delighted that Nick Clegg and Sarah Teather have built tackling empty homes into our General Election manifesto. I hope that the landlord will work hard with his new tenants to keep it in good shape so that it can be an asset to the Christchurch Road/Kendrick streetscape rather than the eyesore it has been for so long.

Empty home on Christchurch Road - progress at last?

Over on my other blog I have given a roundup on activity by RBC officers to bring hundreds of Reading's empty homes back into use. This important work is only happening because of the active campaign my Lib Dem colleagues and I have led locally on this issue which led to strategy and resources being allocated to this issue. In Redlands, one of the most prominent empty homes is the beautiful house on the corner of Christchurch Road and Kendrick Road. I have been nagging officers for years to work with the owner of this property to bring it back into use. I heard today that internal work is well underway with electricians, carpenters and decorators on site. It is rumoured that this property is due to be let out in the Summer which is good news (but we'll believe it when we see it!) We have raised concerns with officers about the state of the site and they regularly remind the owner of his responsibilities.

Empty homes action to feature in Lib Dem manifesto

Readers of this blog will be familiar with my campaigning in Redlands and across Reading over the last few years to get empty private homes brought back into use.

Great news today as Nick Clegg announced new proposals to reduce the number of empty homes in the UK, increase the number of family-sized homes to rent and create 65,000 jobs.

It's the latest addition to the Lib Dem manifesto and I've posted full details over on my new campaign blog.

December empty homes campaign update

Nearly two years since the introduction of an empty homes strategy in Reading (following a successful Lib Dem campaign)the need for action on empty homes has never been more pressing.

As Chair of Scrutiny I insisted that once the strategy was introduced an empty homes update report should be presented to councillor every quarter to ensure we keep this issue on the agenda and ensure that progress is being made on this issue.

The latest report going to HHCC Scrutiny Panel next week shows that there are currently 517 that have been empty for 6 months or longer and increase of 25 since July 2009.

This rise is clearly linked to the impact of the recession:

Reading's annual house price fall has been 10.5% and according to the empty homes officer: "around half of empty homes owners contacted in Reading in 2008 have said they are waiting for the market to recover" (before they bring their properties back into use.

The number of empty homes has increased in 9 wards, dropped in 5 and remained static in 2.

There is a particular problem in Battle ward of empty flats above commercial premises. 11 of the empty homes in Battle fall in this category (out of 52). Sadly these properties are outside the scope of the strategy.

I will be writing to officers to see what the Council is doing about the specific problem of empty shops (and empty flats above shots) as they can make our shopping areas look very rundown, attract crime etc.

The wards with the most empty homes at present are: Southcote (87), Battle (75), Abbey (73).

There are currently 30 empty homes in Redlands (an increase of 26).

• I am hopeful that Alexandra House on London Road will be brought back into use soon (there has been renovation work going on)
• Progress towards bringing 35 Christchurch Road back into use is still slow. I am chasing officers from RBC to keep the pressure on the owner of this property.

I'm really pleased to see officers are now actively encouraging empty home owners to consider offering their homes to local charities such as Reading Single Homeless Project and the Forgotten British Gurkha.

And on an even more positive note, three homes have recently been brought back into use as a result of the strategy and the hard work of the officer working to implement it.

These properties were in Kentwood, Whitley and Battle.

How ironic, that these wards are held by Conservative and Labour councillors in the main.

Thinking back to our campaign, I don't remember getting much support from these political parties when I called for an empty homes strategy in Reading.

Whatever the other parties do or fail to do in relation to this issue the Lib Dems will continue to campaign for action on empty homes.

With over 4,000 people currently on the Council's housing register the need for more affordable housing in Reading remains acute.

More cynical spin from Labour on council housing

Hardly a day has gone past over the past few months without more meaningless statements from Labour ministers about housing.

As Lib Dem housing spokesperson on Reading Borough Council since 2006 I spent a lot of time on the doorstep, in the Council chamber and on this blog campaigning for action rather than empty promises on housing issues.

Earlier today John Healey, Minister for Housing announced the publication of new guidleines to councils about how they should allocate council houses to people on the housing register.

But as this BBC article points out the pledge itself amounts to nothing new:

"the guidance for councils, which was first promised in July, merely instructs them how to use existing laws and are open to consultation"

Today's announcement is a blatant attempt by Labour to attempt to try and claw back ground it has lost to the BNP and other political parties in many parts of the UK.

The BNP peddle the line that immigrants, asylum seekers and "non-locals" get given  priority over local people.This is utter rubbish and Labour politicians should know better than to give these fantastical arguments credibility.

Anyone who campaigns as I do to help families and individuals get access to council accomodation knows that councils allocate housing on the basis of need not ethnic origin.

The reason people can't get access to cheap housing is because there simply isn't enough of it to go around.

Politicians from the mainstream political parties need to challenge these myths wherever they find them.

So I find John Healey's comments pathetic. They represent no more than a deeply cycnical bid for votes.

What he doesn't realise, however, is that voters are getting very tired of hearing Labour's spin and are getting deeply cynical about Labour's housing promises.

So the answer is that councils should be encouraged to build more affordable housing and in addition as Sarah Teather has argued do more to bring the thousands of empty homes across the UK back into use.

Sarah said today:

 "John Healey's press release will do nothing to help the millions of people set to spend this Christmas stuck in temporary accommodation or on the streets.

"While Labour and the Tories have spent years squabbling over who should be at the top of the housing queue, that queue has grown longer and longer.

"Instead of fiddling around the edges of allocations policy, the housing minister needs to focus on bringing empty properties back into use and building the many new homes that local families need."

Good on her.

National Week of Action on Empty Homes: 22-27 November

Readers of this blog will know I have been leading a campaign in Reading for a number of years to reduce the number of empty (private) properties in the Borough.

You can find out more about our local campaign by visiting www.redlandslibdems.org.uk/emptyhomes

This week is the annual National Week of Action on Empty Homes which is being spearheaded by the independent campaigning charity, the Empty Homes Agency.

Because this problem goes far wider than just Reading.

There are currently nearly one million empty properties in the UK and given we are in the middle of a housing crisis this is a national scandal.

I was invited to join the Board of the EHA earlier this year and I am keen to promote the work of this excellent charity and to help them campaign to bring down the numbers of empty homes in the UK.

Launching the Week of Action, David Ireland, Chief Executive of the EHA said:

"House building is unable to keep up with our growing need for housing, but one in thirty homes in this country is empty. If everybody in this country is going to be well housed we don’t just have to build new homes, we need to make use of the ones we already have.

Getting an empty home back into use costs a fraction of the price of building a new home, and we know that leaving homes empty costs the taxpayer billions of pounds a year. In our view the case for action is a no-brainer!”

This campaign coincided with figures released by the Halifax bank which showed that there are currently over 300,000 privately owned long-term homes in England. In total there are 970,000 empty homes in the UK.

Government statistics show that there are 4,800 government - owned empty homes, yet just one government agency: Defence Estates admits to have over 9,500 empty homes.

This is a scandal when we know that hundreds of thousands of families are currently waiting for affordable housing to become available.

This is leading to real problems like overcrowding and a general detirioration of many neighbourhoods right across the UK. Check out this story about an empty home belonging to two MPs!

The Empty Homes Agency would like to see the government take the following action on this issue:-

• Redirect unspent funding intended for building new homes to fund the renovation of empty homes.
• Publish an annual report on the true number of vacant homes owned by government. It should set out an action plan for how and when these homes will be sold or returned to use.
• Help owners who want to bring their properties back into use by reducing the VAT on the costs of renovation. But it should close the loophole that enables many property owners to claim long term council tax discounts and exemptions for keeping their homes empty.
• Help councils to become more skilled in tackling empty homes by supporting a programme of skills development, which would enable councils to support owners in bringing their homes back to use.

Nationally, Sarah Teather MP (Lib Dem housing spokesperson) has led the way in lobbying the government for real action on this issue.

And earlier this year I took our local campaign to Westminster and won ministerial backing for action.

The Lib Dems in Reading have time and again shown we are the only political party prepared to actively campaign on this issue to bring down the number of empty homes in the Borough. My colleagues over in Katesgrove have been particularly active in this area in recent months.

Thanks to me, empty homes is now a standing item on the HHCC Scrutiny Panel agenda so that never again can this issue be overlooked by the Labour administration of the Council - a council which years ago, when Cllr Tony Jones was Lead member for housing won awards for it's empty homes work.

And thanks to the strategy that the Lib Dems got the Labour Executive to introduce last year we are now seeing real, tangible progress and empty properties being brought back into use in Reading for the first time in years.

But we are not complacent.

There is a lot more work to be done and hundreds more empty homes to bring back into use here in Reading.

If you are concerned about an empty property in your area report it to the Council for action emptyhomes@reading.gov.uk today.

Support this important campaign: visit www.emptyhomes.com and learn how you can start taking action in your area now.

Review of landlord accreditation underway

Following our successful campaign earlier this year to get action taken in regards to Reading's large private rented housing sector, I have more good news to report - this time for students in particular.

An officer begins work today at Reading Borough Council to review landlord accreditation in Reading.

This is very positive news. I will be meeting her and other officers shortly to discuss how we can revive this important scheme.

A landlord accreditation operated by RBC existed until 2006 when it was suspended by the Labour administration due to lack of resources.

I am sympathetic to officers who work in the HMO team at RBC as their workload increased a lot with the advent of HMO licensing and other measures introduced by the 2004 Housing Act.

We have been campaigning since 2006 alongside Reading University Students' Union for the re-introduction of landlord accreditation to enable students and other tenants to have a straightforward, easy to understand way of finding good quality rented accomodation in Reading.

A revival of RBC's landlord accreditation was one of the recommendations to Cabinet which came out of the scrutiny review I led earlier this year into private rented housing.

Before it is reintroduced, a review needs to take place as since 2006 a lot of new legislation has come in and it will be important that accreditation adds value and does not conflict with existing HMO regulations or add to much burden to landlords.

We are continuing to campaign for a more joined-up approach between RBC and Reading University on a range of issues including - which is sadly not what we've seen in recent days. I will be meeting senior officers from boths organistions soon to see where we can make progress.

Other good news to report is that on Tuesday the Council is set to approve a new draft housing strategy 2009-2014 and I'm pleased to say thanks to our campaign the private rented sector now features prominently in the Council's overall strategy. 

For years this sector was overlooked by the Labour-run Council and standards did not keep pace with those in parts of the social housing sector in Reading. This clearly occured for political reasons.

Happily with support from my Lib Dem colleagues we have been able to refocus officers attention on to areas such as HMOs and planning enforcement which have been causing residents problems across Redlands, Katesgrove and central Reading.

The Council's strategy and action plan for reducing empty homes also features in the new housing strategy for the Borough which I'm very pleased about (after so many years when the Council didn't even have one!)

Let's hear it for David...

...and no, I don't mean David Cameron.

I've made the point on this blog a few times before but the reason I first got the bug to campaign for action on empty homes - nearly four years ago now - was all down to one man: the inspirational, indefatigable David Ireland.

And one phone call in the summer of 2006.

Fast forward to 2009...

- Lib Dem councillors in Reading are actively campaigning in Redlands, Katesgrove and across Reading to bring the numbers of empty private properties down.

- Empty homes is a standing item on the HHCC Scrutiny Panel agenda and we are making progress.

- RBC employs a full-tme officer dedicated to reducing the number of empty homes, working to an agreed empty homes strategy.

But it was not always this way.

Some background.

It was a call from David Ireland (who I had never heard of at that point) to me back in 2006 just after I was elected that orginally spurred me into action and it was his support  and encouragementwhich motivated me to keep going.

He motivated me to challenge the status quo -  officers and councillors in Reading -  to revive our long-dead (and buried!) empty homes strategy and to get real action taken to reduce the overall number of empty homes in our town.

David, who started life working as an environmental protection officer has been Chief Executive of the independent campaigning charity the Empty Homes Agency (EHA) for a number of years.

It was David who first came up with the idea for empty dwelling management orders (a newish power that enables local authorities to take possession of empty private houses) which thanks to his campaign became law in the 2004 Housing Act. Pretty cool stuff.

Somehow, through eras of both Labour and Conservative rule in this country' David has managed to keep empty homes top of the political agenda. 

Earlier this year he got Inside Housing - the main housing trade magazine to run a highly successful 'Empty Promise Campaign' that included a petition on the Number 10 website and which resulted in the then housing minister - Margaret Beckett pledging more government support for this worthy cause.

And I have David to thank for getting me an audience with the Minister responsible for empty homes policy earlier this year in which I was able to bend his ear for quite a while!

One of the EHA's recent successes was to help get action taken to bring 400 homes abandoned for over 40 years on the edge of the A406 (North Circular Road) back into use after decades of neglect by local councils and agencies.

As a politico with a keen interest in housing issues I have been following what has been said at the three party conferences and I'm delighted to say that all three major parties are now echoing the EHA's call for further action to bring empty homes back into use.

It's fair to say the Lib Dems are leading the way in coming up with radical solutions to the empty homes problem, but it's good to see a consensus forming across the political spectrum around the need for action.

As I've shown in Reading - the reality of the housing sitution we face is this: massive council house waiting lists, overcrowding, lack of affordable housing...and hundreds of potential homes lying empty.

Sadly this picture is reflected across the country.

So I am hugely grateful to David and his campaigning.

And I'm glad that I'm now able to repay the favour - hopefully.

A couple of months ago I was invited to join the Board of the EHA and I'm delighted to say that as of today I am now a Board member.

I won't get any additional cash for taking on this position - my aim is to try and help this amazing, much-needed charity in it's wider campaigning activity.

CLG recently cut the EHA's grant so we will need to work hard to secure funding to plug that gap elsewhere.

Let's hope we can believe what we are hearing from the national politicians about empty homes.

I know that Sarah Teather MP is personally very committed to the cause.

One thing's clear, come the next election and beyond neither David Ireland, nor the Empty Homes Agency nor I will stop campaigning to ensure that all empty homes that can be brought back into use, are brought back into use.