Conference highlights tools available to help tackle issue of empty homes

A conference for environmental health professionals has given insights and advice on how the issue of empty homes can be tackled to support communities and provide solutions to housing challenges.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Tackling Empty Homes Conference, supported by Action on Empty Homes, heard how there are currently around 750,000 empty homes in England, and around 300,000 long-term empty (vacant for over six months).

A wide range of expert speakers explored how bringing empty properties back into use can help meet housing needs and revitalise communities.

The event kicked off with a session delivered by Dr Henry Dawson, a member of CIEH’s Housing Advisory Panel and Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Environmental Health at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

He gave delegates invaluable insights and guidance on the powers and enforcement tools available to them to deal with long-term empty homes, including Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs). EDMOs allow a local housing authority to secure the occupation and proper management of privately owned houses and flats that have been unoccupied for a specified period of time and where certain other conditions are met.

Next up was Graham Sievers, Chairman of the Property Guardian Providers Association (PGPA), who presented on the future of property guardianship and its role as a possible new housing solution.

Graham explained that property guardianship enables individuals or couples to live in temporarily vacant buildings for a licence fee in exchange for keeping them secure and maintained, through being occupied. This, he said, benefits property owners by protecting their vacant buildings from squatters and vandalism and the guardians gain significantly cheaper housing than traditional renting.

Chris Bailey, National Campaigns Manager at Action on Empty Homes, then looked in his session at national and regional trends, as well as key questions and potential solutions to the issue. He said long-term empty homes are at their highest level since 2009, with a particularly steep rise in the last year.

He told delegates there was no simple solution to the issue with greater resourcing, updated and improved local authority powers and innovation needed, including new partnerships and approaches.

Sam Bloomer, Policy Officer, Shelter, was next up to talk about what he described as the ‘win-win’ of tackling empty homes to fast-track social rent delivery, with the UK seeing a net loss of social rent homes every year.

The conference then concluded with two sessions of insights from a Local Authority perspective, starting with Claudia Bowring, Empty Homes Officer at Rushcliffe Borough Council speaking about the work she and her team have been doing to bring empty homes back into use in the Nottinghamshire area.

Then Tom Davies from No Use Empty, the Kent Empty Property Initiative, gave a fascinating insight into the success of that initiative in the South-East which he said has not only created new homes to help address the housing shortage but helped improve the urban environment in Kent and improved the social wellbeing of the local economy.

Ian Andrews, Head of Environmental Health at CIEH, who chaired the conference, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to all our speakers for sharing their expertise and to every delegate who joined us for the CIEH Tackling Empty Homes Conference. The insights, practical guidance, and innovative approaches discussed highlight just how vital cross‑sector collaboration is in addressing the issue of empty homes.

“Bringing properties back into use not only supports local authorities and improves our communities but also provides meaningful solutions to the ongoing housing challenges being faced across the country.”

More information about upcoming events organised by CIEH can be found here: www.cieh.org/events