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Long Term Empty Properties

We're waiting for Rhys Thomas to read a recent response and update the status.

I am writing to you to request the following information:

1) Can the council confirm their current number of Long Term Empty Domestic Properties as of the 13th May (those properties which have been empty for six months or older)
2) What work is the council currently undertaking or planning to undertake around reducing their long term empty properties in 2019?
3) During 2018 did you undertake any work around reducing your Long Term Empty Properties. If you did was this done using internal resource or a third party?
4) If yes is the answer to question three, did the council review every single long term property
5) Does the reduction of empty homes in the council area form part of your Housing strategy?
6) Does the council have a budget in place to help support the reduction of empty properties?
7) How much did the council spend on temporary accommodation during 2018?
8) Does the council offer financial support /loans to Long Term Empty property owners to help them bring properties back into use?

Thank you very much,

Rhys

hackney@infreemation.co.uk,

Dear Rhys Thomas

We acknowledge receipt of your email to Hackney:

Freedom of Information request - Long Term Empty Properties

If you have submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), we will aim to
respond within the statutory timescale of 20 working days. If you have
submitted a Subject Access Request your request will be considered and you
will receive our response within the statutory timescale of one calendar
month.

The reference number for your email is FOI-3297.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please reply
to this email leaving the subject line unchanged.

Yours sincerely,
Hackney Council

hackney@infreemation.co.uk,

Dear Rhys Thomas,

Before we continue processing this request, we would like to seek
clarification.

When discussing 'Long term empty properties' do you mean only
Council-owned properties, or any type of residential property?

Kind regards

Information Management

Hi there

The request involves all residential properties so publicly and privately-owned properties within the Hackney area.

Thank you very much

Rhys

hackney@infreemation.co.uk,

Thank you for the clarification - we have allocated to the relevant
departments.

Kind regards

Information Management

London Borough of Hackney

hackney@infreemation.co.uk,

Dear Rhys Thomas,

Our apologies for the continuing delay - this request has been passed to a
number of different departments in the Council. We have some of the
information but are still trying to find the responses to the questions
about empty property strategy.

Kind regards

Information Management

hackney@infreemation.co.uk,

Dear Rhys Thomas,

Thank you for your request of 15th May. We apologise for the long delay in
issuing this response.

 

Your request

1) Can the council confirm their current number of Long Term Empty
Domestic Properties as of the 13th May (those properties which have been
empty for six months or older)
2) What work is the council currently undertaking or planning to undertake
around reducing their long term empty properties in 2019?
3) During 2018 did you undertake any work around reducing your Long Term
Empty Properties. If you did was this done using internal resource or a
third party?
4) If yes is the answer to question three, did the council review every
single long term property
5) Does the reduction of empty homes in the council area form part of your
Housing strategy?
6) Does the council have a budget in place to help support the reduction
of empty properties?
7) How much did the council spend on temporary accommodation during 2018?
8) Does the council offer financial support /loans to Long Term Empty
property owners to help them bring properties back into use?

Council's response

 

Question 1) Can the council confirm their current number of Long Term
Empty Domestic Properties as of the 13th May (those properties which have
been empty for six months or older)

 

Answer 1) A figure for the total number of properties in the borough of
Hackney empty for longer than 6 months in 2018 is available from a
publicly available source - the Government website, Table 615: 
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistica...

 

Question 2) What work is the council currently undertaking or planning to
undertake around reducing their long term empty properties in 2019?

 

Answer 2) Since 2014, void properties on Regeneration estates have
routinely been brought up to a lettable standard and used as long term
temporary accommodation until the properties are close to demolition date.
They are allocated to households in housing need to whom Hackney owes a
housing duty, and they provide self contained and local accommodation as
an alternative to expensive nightly paid accommodation, which is often out
of Borough.

In the private sector, the Council has worked with property owners to
encourage the return to use of empty properties including offering
financial grant aid.

 

Question 3) During 2018 did you undertake any work around reducing your
Long Term Empty Properties. If you did was this done using internal
resource or a third party?

 

Answer 3) We are about to appoint a specialist Empty Homes Officer as a
dedicated resource for Empty Homes in the Private Sector. The officer will
work to encourage their return to use and where this does not bring
results will use the full range of enforcement powers available including
where appropriate EDMO's, Compulsory Purchase and enforced sale powers.
operationally, within Housing, voids are always a high priority and there
is always a drive to bring council properties back into use as quickly as
possible, wherever possible. 

 

Question 4) If yes is the answer to question three, did the council review
every single long term property

 

Answer 4) The council reviewed every long term void in 2017. As a result,
two were sold and two are being converted for use as supported housing
instead of remaining single dwelling residences. This exercise was carried
out internally. 

 

Question 5) Does the reduction of empty homes in the council area form
part of your Housing strategy?

 

Answer 5) One of the main themes of the Hackney Housing Strategy is to
make the best use of existing homes. This includes by using empty council
homes on estates undergoing regeneration for temporary accommodation, and
working with the owners of long-term empty private sector homes to bring
their properties back into use.   

 

Question 6) Does the council have a budget in place to help support the
reduction of empty properties?

 

Answer 6) The Council is proposing to appoint an empty homes consultant as
a dedicated resource to tackle private sector empty homes using the full
range of available enforcement powers.

 

Question 7) How much did the council spend on temporary accommodation
during 2018?

Answer 7) The London Borough of Hackneys Temporary Accommodation accounts
are calculated on the basis of financial not calendar year, so this is all
that is available..

I am happy to confirm that the net spend by Hackney Council on Temporary
Accommodation, (the cost to the Council after receipt of income from rents
and benefits) was for 

2017/18: £7.2 million

2018/19: £9.35 million  

 

Question 8)  Does the council offer financial support /loans to Long Term
Empty property owners to help them bring properties back into use?

 

Answer 8) The council offers discretionary empty property grant as part of
its existing policy. However these grants have not proved attractive in
the current market and none have been taken up. this year. The empty
property grant is being reviewed as part of a general review of the
Housing Grants and Assistance Policy for 2020-21.  The Council reserves
the right to either withdraw or change the level of grant or loan
assistance at any time to take into account available funding.

 

Appeals and complaints

 

If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to appeal, please
respond to this email to request an Internal Review.

If you are still not satisfied following the Internal Review, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.

[2]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ema...

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

0303 123 1113

Kind regards

Information Management
ICT Services
London Borough of Hackney 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistica...
2. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ema...

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Rhys Thomas please sign in and let everyone know.