MPs believe empty homes could help solve housing crisis

MPs believe empty homes could help solve housing crisis

0:04 AM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago 11

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MPs are calling on the government to turn empty buildings into affordable homes.

The group of MPs believe turning commercial properties into residential spaces can help solve the housing crisis.

According to government figures, there are currently 250,000 empty homes across England.

Empty council buildings could create 20,000 more homes

The group of MPs who are part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Housing Market & Housing Delivery and APPG for Ending Homelessness have conducted an inquiry into housing solutions for the homeless.

The joint inquiry report from the APPG reveals empty council buildings could create 20,000 more homes. The 20,000 figure does not include the potential for conversions from the empty commercial properties owned by the private sector.

Overall, 14% of retail unit space and 7% of office space is currently vacant.

Bob Blackman, co-chair of the APPG for Ending Homelessness, said: “The report comes against a backdrop of a severe shortage of affordable housing, which is a core driver of homelessness.

“We have heard from witnesses that there is significant scope to repurpose empty buildings to help ease the housing crisis.

Healthy Homes Principles to ensure high-quality homes

The APPGs have urged the government to implement a set of standards, called Healthy Homes Principles, to ensure high-quality homes.

These would apply to all new housing, including conversions, and include access to amenities such as shops and schools, fire safety and natural light.

The groups are also calling for all conversions to be required to make contributions towards affordable housing to help meet local needs and tackle homelessness.

The government has already signalled its intent to do this through the Levelling Up Bill, but the MPs are calling for the measures to be brought forward to deliver benefits in the immediate term.

Ben Everitt, Chair of the APPG for Housing Market and Delivery, said: “We wanted to look at creative housing supply solutions that are available in the short-term, and hope that the government will take forward our recommendations, which are both practical and pragmatic.”


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Comments

Paul Essex

11:24 AM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

The biggest mistake here is that most of the empty properties are not where the demand is highest. The costs of conversion only makes sense in high rent areas (a large conversion locally has recently halted as the developers have gone into liquidation and nobody else wants to take on the project).

Judith Wordsworth

11:34 AM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

There are plenty of office buildings empty, now that many companies employees are working from home and only need to go to "the office" once a fortnight, once a months or never.

Plenty of under 30's needing homes.

Not too much common sense needed to realise that by converting these office blocks into self contained studio flats, or 1 bed room flats, would give homes to thousands.

But then common sense isn't very common, and nor is logic so it seems lol

Blodwyn

11:55 AM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

MPs are interested in what will get them votes, they are terrified of an upcoming GE and will float with the wind, unless they are a fantasist of the extreme left or right and in a safe seat.
Guy Fawkes Had A Good Idea - a long West End run for any play of that name?

Richie

12:40 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

It's an idea for some areas, but I think more of a vote catching statement. The APPG are just thinking of something to say to justify their committee existence.

Get rid of funding for Shelter and these trust's that make money and start building local authority COUNCIL HOUSES!
It might not be to everyone's taste to have proper council estates but when there were many (prior to the Maggie Thatcher's recruitment drive to make more Tories by selling council houses) the PRS was going fairly well.

Freda Blogs

13:04 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

"MPs believe empty homes could help solve housing crisis"

What MPs believe and MPs do can be two different things, and they don't always align or even make sense.

Properties standing empty are usually vacant for a reason. Empty dwellings policies have been around for decades and rarely invoked. Why not?
Commercial properties such as office blocks for conversion can be mired in legal/planning issues that are not always swift or simple to resolve.

Getting to grips with empty properties needs drive, determination, money and collaboration between all stakeholders, including between departments at a Local Authority. If they can make that work, it might just be a winner, but my guess is they'd be pushing water uphill.

A few years ago I was involved in an initiative to provide affordable homes through partnership between a Council (as land owners, planning authority and housing authority with nomination rights on any houses built going to people on their wafting list), and varying Housing Associations - who had government funding to build and manage the schemes. With all those elements in place and the schemes de-risked you'd think it would have been easy to get schemes going, right? Wrong. Really difficult, time consuming and few schemes made it through in the end.

Meantime, if Govt wants to relieve the housing crisis just a bit, they should get out of their own way (if its not too late) and stop fiddling with the PRS and scaring away all the landlords who are actually providing houses RIGHT NOW, not at some time in the future when an empty homes initiative comes into effect, if it ever does.

Dennis Leverett

17:37 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Michael Gove gives £1.9bn of housing cash back to Treasury as ‘nothing to spend it on’

Umm, can anybody with a grain of sense explain this?

I think it just about explains every part of this ridiculous govt.

Blodwyn

20:04 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Why not use it to build council houses?
Boom boom, a bit obvious, sorry friends!

Richie

21:30 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Blodwyn at 13/07/2023 - 20:04Exactly what I said earlier. We can't be the only two who thinks that.
Build the bl@@dy Council Houses and help people get a home. Take ownership back to the councils, means test the proposed tenants, charge a reasonable rent, employ council workers to look after the housing so keeping it all in house. I guess that's a bit back to the old days. If trusts can make it pay so should councils.
Goodness I sound like a socialist which I'm not really just trying to be fair.

Blodwyn

21:45 PM, 13th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Richie at 13/07/2023 - 21:30
Couldn't agree more!

Reluctant Landlord

10:44 AM, 14th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Richie at 13/07/2023 - 21:30
or...instead of the council selling off their properties at auction refurb with the money and relet. No planning issues, no new land use, no NIMBY issues and you reduce the housing list. People on the list stay in the area they want.

Not rocket science....

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