Vacant Buildings

The request was successful.

Robert Sperring

Dear West Berkshire Council,

I would like to know the answer to the following questions with
regards to commercial, council owned and residential properties:

1. How many vacant/empty/disused properties/buildings are there in
the borough?
according to your most recent figures?

2. How much is the Council spending on maintaining
vacant/empty/disused properties/buildings in 2013-14 ?

3. Do you have a list of the locations or names of
properties/buildings that are
vacant/empty/disused?

Yours faithfully,

Robert Sperring

foi, West Berkshire Council

FoI/2015/577

 

Dear Mr Sperring,

 

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

 

Thank you for your request received 24.06.2015; we will seek to respond
within twenty working days.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Support Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [1][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

 

show quoted sections

Robert Sperring

Dear foi,

I look forward to hearing from you, next week.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Sperring

foi, West Berkshire Council

1 Attachment

FoI/2015/577

 

Dear Mr Sperring,

 

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

 

I have now obtained the majority of the information required to respond to
your request. You have asked:

 

1. How many vacant/empty/disused properties/buildings are there in the
borough according to your most recent figures?

739 residential as of June 18^th 2015; 170 commercial as of beginning of
April 2015

 

2. How much is the Council spending on maintaining vacant/empty/disused
properties/buildings in 2013-14 ?

In terms of vacant commercial premises owned by the Council there is only
Pound Lane Thatcham, which is an old depot currently in the process of
being sold to a developer. It is hoped to exchange contracts on this in
the next few weeks. The costs are given below.

 

Security   ....               £675 p month  or £8,100 p.a

Concrete Barriers ....  £215 p month  or £2 580 p.a.

Reactive Maintenance ...........................£   800 p.a.

 

The annual total would be around £11,480 plus the business rates of 
£26,000.

 

This authority is not a housing authority. There are a small number of
vacant residential properties owned by this authority (Taceham House, The
Haywards, Thatcham, a property in Bath Road, Calcot, two properties in
Highfield Avenue, Newbury) and I am awaiting costs for these. I will
supply these shortly.

 

3. Do you have a list of the locations or names of properties/buildings
that are vacant/empty/disused?

 

The empty commercial properties can be found on the annual Business Rate
properties list published here – see column R:

[1]http://info.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?...

Information on residential properties which are privately owned is exempt
under the provisions of S31 and S40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and a copy of the exemption is attached.  I am currently trying to obtain
a list of those empty residential properties owned by commercial
organisations and social housing providers, and will provide this as soon
as I receive it.

 

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may ask for an internal
review. Please explain fully your reasons for requesting a review. You
should contact David Lowe, Scrutiny & Partnerships Manager, Strategic
Support, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD, email
[2][email address]  if you wish to request a review. If you are not
content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

[3]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Susan Ellis

Information Management Officer

Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I
am next in the office. 

* Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD

Email:  [4][email address]

' 01635 519747 (external)      '   2747 (internal)      

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Robert Sperring

Dear foi,

Judging by the response the list you directed me to below in column (R) are not vacant/empty/disused but operating as businesses ? fair enough not habitable but not redundant ? how can i obtain the commercial premises that are not trading or paying rates etc please, Thanks Robert

3. Do you have a list of the locations or names of properties/buildings
that are vacant/empty/disused?

The empty commercial properties can be found on the annual Business Rate
properties list published here – see column R:

Ju

Yours sincerely,

Robert Sperring

Sue Ellis, West Berkshire Council

FoI/2015/577

Dear Mr Sperring

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

When a commercial property is empty, this information is noted against the business rates record, as it affects the business rates paid. So if you use the filter on Column R (Relief Type in place at 1st April 2015) of the published spreadsheet, you can bring up all commercial properties listed as empty at the time the list was created. These are identified as 'Empty property rate for period', as 'Exempt: Unoccupied for three months' and as 'New Build: Empty property relief'. These are the commercial properties which are vacant/empty/disused. There is nothing which allows us to identify them further. I am afraid that even if a commercial building is empty, it will still appear on the business rates database, in the same way that empty residential properties still appear on the Council tax database.

Yours sincerely

Susan Ellis
Information Management Officer
Please note that I work part time and messages may not be answered until I am next in the office. 
  Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14 5LD
Email:  [email address]
 01635 519747 (external)         2747 (internal)      
You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed to a third party.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

show quoted sections

foi, West Berkshire Council

FoI/2015/577

 

Dear Mr Sperring,

 

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

 

My apologies for the delay. In respect of the small number of  vacant
residential properties owned by this authority (Taceham House, The 
Haywards, Thatcham, a property in Bath Road, Calcot, two properties in
Highfield Avenue, Newbury) the cost of maintaining these in 2013-14 was
£14,407.01.

 

We are still waiting to receive the list of vacant, commercially owned
properties and will send this to you shortly.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Support Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [1][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

show quoted sections

foi, West Berkshire Council

1 Attachment

FoI/2015/577

 

Dear Mr Sperring,

 

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

 

Please find attached a list of empty commercially owned residential
properties in the West Berkshire area.

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in sending this.

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may ask
for an internal review. You should contact David Lowe, Scrutiny &
Partnerships Manager, Strategic Support, Council Offices, Market Street,
Newbury RG14 5LD, email [1][email address]  if you wish to request
a review. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review,
you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

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

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Support Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [2][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

From: Suzanne Kenchington On Behalf Of foi
Sent: 29 July 2015 10:52
To: [3][FOI #276553 email]
Subject: RE: FoI/2015/577- Sperring

 

FoI/2015/577

 

Dear Mr Sperring,

 

Request for information: Vacant Buildings

 

My apologies for the delay. In respect of the small number of  vacant
residential properties owned by this authority (Taceham House, The 
Haywards, Thatcham, a property in Bath Road, Calcot, two properties in
Highfield Avenue, Newbury) the cost of maintaining these in 2013-14 was
£14,407.01.

 

We are still waiting to receive the list of vacant, commercially owned
properties and will send this to you shortly.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Suzi Kenchington 

Information Support Officer

Strategic Support,

West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury, RG14 5LD

email:  [4][email address]

' 01635 519860 (external)      '  2860 (internal)      

P Do you really need to print this email?

 

show quoted sections