We are seeking the views of residents, partners, businesses and stakeholders on Shropshire Council’s proposed strategy for tackling empty property in the County.

We really want to hear your thoughts and opinions on the proposed strategy – click the ‘How to get involved’ tab now to give your feedback.

Overview

The Empty Homes Strategy for 2014 – 2017 gives an understanding of the issues of empty property in the County and how it impacts on local areas. It looks at why properties become empty, what advice and assistance is available to empty property owners, and how the Council uses the range of powers available to it to return empty properties to use.

Shropshire Council aims to enable better use of all properties in the county, both residential and commercial, that may be underutilised and able to contribute to the supply of housing in the county.

National Context

Empty Homes are a national issue and, according to the Empty Homes

Agency, there were around 710,000 empty homes recorded in England in 2012.  Of these almost 260,000 had been empty for over six months and were classified as long term empty properties.

Over recent years the government has recognised and prioritised the issue of empty properties, and is committed to getting empty homes back into use to contribute towards meeting housing need.

Local Context

In 2012 just under 3.5% of homes in Shropshire were empty. The number of registered empty properties was over 4,600 with over 1,700 of these being empty over six months and classified as long term empty properties.^#

The vast majority of these properties are privately owned and are dispersed throughout the urban, semi-rural and rural areas of the county. The distribution of empty properties within Shropshire can be seen on the area map in Appendix 1.

^# Statistics taken from the Empty Homes website Empty Homes Statistics

During the period of the 2010 – 2013 Empty Homes Strategy the figures for returning empty homes to use through Shropshire Council involvement were:

• Year 1 (2010/11) – 65
• Year 2 (2011/12) – 94
• Year 3 (2012/13) – 74

It is anticipated that the employment of this Strategy will help to build and develop the level of skill and expertise needed to effectively bring empty properties back into use, using a linked approach throughout the Council and other organisations.

Documents

• Empty homes strategy 2014 - 2017.pdf

In our Empty Homes Strategy 2014-2017 we describe what we mean by empty homes, why they might be empty and why we should do something about them.

We also explain what the Council has done so far, and what methods we are looking at taking in the future.

 If you have any queries, you can contact us using the details on this page.