Reference: FOI-509083544
Date of request: 19/04/2023
Title of request: Empty Homes

Dear Jamie Mann,

Thank you for submitting your FOI Request. We confirm receipt of your
request and will be in touch in due course.

If we are unable to provide you with a response within 20 working days, we
will advise you of this. Please refer to the attachment which gives a
summary of your request and explains your right to ask for a review if you
are unhappy with how the Council is dealing with your request.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance

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Dear Mr Mann,

I am in receipt of your above Freedom of Information request received on
the 18 April 2023.

You have requested the following information:-

• From 2018/19 to 2022/23, please advise how empty homes in your council
area were recorded.

• Please break the result down by year, and provide an address,
co-ordinates, or at least a postcode for each home.

• Please also advise how long each home had been vacant

There are numerous different discounts and exemptions for empty
properties, which would include Closing Orders, Housing Body-Pending
Demolition and repossession by creditors for example and I am wondering
what you mean by empty homes.    

I would appreciate it if you could please refine and expand on the
specifics of your request taking into consideration the above points thus
allowing me to provide the best information available.

Unfortunately, we will only be able to give you a snapshot of empty homes
as of the 31 March 2023 for the years requested.

If you have any queries regarding this request, please do not hesitate to
contact me at [1][email address].

Kind Regards

Kay Troup

Kay Troup/ Service Development Officer – Revenues & Benefits/ Angus
Council / Tel 01241 465627/ [2][email address] / www.angus.gov.uk

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mr Mann,

I am in yet to receive a reply to my email of the 20 April 2023 requesting
further information to allow me to provide a response to your above
Freedom of Information request received on the 18 April 2023.

Please find attached a copy of my email for your reference.

I will be unable to proceed with your request if a response is not
received and subsequently, your case will be closed.

If you have any queries regarding this request, please do not hesitate to
contact me at [1][email address].

Kind Regards

Kay Troup

Kay Troup/ Service Development Officer – Revenues & Benefits/ Angus
Council / Tel 01241 465627/ [2][email address] / www.angus.gov.uk

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]

Reference: FOI-509083544
Date of request: 26/05/2023
Title of request: Empty Homes
Information request:

Dear Angus Council,
 
Please provide the following information in spreadsheet form.
 
From 2018/19 to 2022/23, please advise how many empty homes in your
council area were recorded.
 
Please break the results down by year, and provide an address,
co-ordinates, or at least a postcode for each home.
 
Please also advise how long each home had been vacant for.
 
Yours faithfully

Dear Jamie Mann,

Request for Information

Thank you for your request for information dated 19 April 2023 (received
by the Council that same date) and subsequent email refining your request
of 26 May 2023 which has been passed to me for attention.

You have requested the following information:

Please provide the number of empty homes in your council area for the
following financial years 2018/19 to 2022/23 providing an address,
co-ordinates or postcode for each home. Also advising how long the
property has been vacant. The request has also been refined to provide a
figure for all unoccupied properties and how many were pending demolition.

I have detailed the information you have requested below, having
identified the data from information the Council already held on an
extraction date of the 30th of April for each financial year.

The numbers provided have been calculated by identifying the number of
properties the Council has in its local area that receive a discount or
exemption where the property is unoccupied. 

┌────────────────────────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬───────┐
│Year │ 2018 │ 2019 │ 2020 │ 2021 │ 2022 │ 2023 │
├────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Unoccupied Properties │ 2444 │ 2,552 │ 2,644 │ 2,422 │ 2,515 │ 2,427 │
├────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Pending Demolition │ 0 │ 23 │ 90 │ 101 │ 103 │ 67 │
└────────────────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

In the table below I have detailed the information relating to the number
of properties and approximate length of time a property has been vacant
within our authority, this information was provided in response to another
FOI request in May 2023 and given the fluid nature of the property status
is a fair reflection of the numbers.

┌────────────────────────┬───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┐
│Duration Vacant │ Year │ Total │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│less than one year │ 2023/24 │ 362 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│One year │ 2022/23 │ 1444 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Two years │ 2021/22 │ 121 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Three years │ 2020/21 │ 62 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Four years │ 2019/20 │ 73 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Five years │ 2018/19 │ 69 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Six years │ 2017/18 │ 30 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Seven years │ 2016/17 │ 36 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Eight years │ 2015/16 │ 84 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Nine years │ 2014/15 │ 10 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Ten years │ 2013/14 │ 2 │
├────────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┤
│Ten Years + │ >2012/13 │ 105 │
└────────────────────────┴───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┘

In the attached spreadsheet please find list of empty properties, with
postcode, number of days empty.

In compiling responses to information requests we invariably use
information which is routinely published on the [1]Council's website
(opens in a new window) or through its [2]Publication Scheme (opens in a
new window). If you require further information please first check that
the information you want is not routinely published as any such
information is exempt from release in terms of Section 25 of the Freedom
of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or Regulation 6(1)(b) of the
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Please note that the information contained in this reply is believed to be
accurate as at today's date (unless otherwise indicated) but no warranty
is given. Further, Angus Council does not accept liability for any loss,
injury or damage which arises from the use of the information contained in
this reply either by you or by any other party. Please refer to the
request summary document sent to you as part of your request
acknowledgement which explains your right to ask for a review if you are
unhappy with the Council's decision on this matter.

If you have any queries, please contact Mr C Stewart direct by email
[email address].

Yours sincerely

Pauline Flynn

Service Development Manager

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

INSPIRE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2009

Your Right to Request a Review by the Council

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Angus Council has dealt with
your request for information under any of the above legislation, you have
a right to ask the council to review its actions and/or decisions
regarding your request. If you wish to do this, you should make your
request to the Service Leader - Legal, Angus Council, Angus House, Sylvie
Way, Orchardbank Business Park, Forfar DD8 1AN or email
[3][email address] within 40 working days.

Your request must:

• be in writing (or recordable format),
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• give the reasons why you are dissatisfied with the way in which your
application for information has been dealt with.

Your application for review will then be considered by the council's
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• be in a recordable format (letter, e-mail, audio tape etc),
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In the case of an EIR or FOI request your application to the Scottish
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Appeals to the Commissioner can be lodged online through the following
hyperlink:

[4]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
or by contacting:

Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St
Andrews, Fife, KY16 9BS; Telephone - 01334 464610; Fax - 01334 464611;
Email -[5][email address]

This message is strictly confidential. If you have received this in error,
please inform the sender and remove it from your system. If received in
error you may not copy, print, forward or use it or any attachment in any
way. This message is not capable of creating a legal contract or a binding
representation and does not represent the views of Angus Council. Emails
may be monitored for security and network management reasons. Messages
containing inappropriate content may be intercepted. Angus Council does
not accept any liability for any harm that may be caused to the recipient
system or data on it by this message or any attachment.

References

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1. Council's website
https://www.angus.gov.uk/
2. Publication Scheme
https://www.angus.gov.uk/council_and_dem...
3. [email address]
mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
5. [email address]
mailto:[email address]

Hi Mr Mann

Sorry for the delay in replying, I have been off on annual leave. Your FOI request was passed on to one of my colleagues and on checking our records a response was issued to you on 23 June 2023.

Kind Regards
Kay Troup

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