Selby District Council has successfully brought a number of empty homes back into use as part of its wider work to create new homes for people across the district.
The Council has been working to improve the supply of homes and helping to bring privately-owned homes back onto the market helps to increase the range of homes available to families and individuals. In 2019, a total of 36 empty homes were brought back into use – above the target of 15 – and of those, 21 had been empty for two years or longer.
The council has achieved this result in a number of different ways – many of these homes were brought back into use due to our Empty Homes Officer working closely with Council Tax colleagues to support and advise the owners of empty properties. Others were as a result of enforcement discussions and one through an Empty Homes Grant. The properties are spread geographically throughout the district and include nine in Selby town and six in Tadcaster.
Selby District Council’s Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture, Cllr Chris Pearson, explained;
“These results clearly demonstrate that we are following up on our promise from last year to work hard to maximise the use of homes that lay empty.
“Housing is a key issue for many people and our approach involves practical action to help people get access to the homes they need. As well as this, long-term empty homes can have an impact on the local community and can attract anti-social behaviour. Selby District Council is taking positive steps to bringing empty homes back into use.”