Housing Solicitors

City of Wolverhampton Council has announced the pilot of a new initiative to further reduce the number of long-term empty residential properties.

The council’s Empty Property Strategy has to date seen more than 1,500 privately owned homes which had been left unoccupied – and often in poor condition – brought back into use in the last eight years.

The number of properties empty for five years or more has been reduced from 330 in 2009 to 59 in October 2016, said the council – a reduction of more than 82%.

Specialist Housing Improvement Officers from the council's Private Sector Housing Team have successfully worked with the owners of properties left empty over a long period of time to encourage and support them to carry out any required works and enable properties to be occupied.

In addition to this, a pilot programme is proposed to offer grants of up to £500 from an initial £50,000 fund, to encourage more owners of empty properties to act.

The grants will either help owners with legal/agent fees to sell their property, or provide an incentive to rent it under the Private Sector Leasing (PSL) Scheme.

The council says this is a “hassle free” property management service, run in association with Wolverhampton Homes.

The council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Housing and Assets, Councillor Peter Bilson, said:

The council aims to ensure that, rather than the properties becoming a blight on their neighbourhood, they are either sold to new homeowners or rented out to tenants.

“Not only is it providing more affordable housing to people in Wolverhampton, but it is also improving the city and helping boost the local economy – and this pilot scheme will further enhance the good work that is being done. The properties we have become involved with have often stood empty for many years – and the condition of them has often deteriorated dramatically.

“This strategy is helping to put these houses back on the market, either to sell or rent – and this in turn is having a positive effect in the areas they are in.

“In addition, it means landlords are once again seeing rental income come in, the value of their properties is increasing – and local shops and services are benefiting from new residents occupying the houses, providing a significant boost to the economy.

“This is the equivalent of us building hundreds of new houses across the city –and we will continue to focus our efforts on empty houses in the City of Wolverhampton.”

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