Empty Homes Agency Chief Executive Helen Williams is pushing Parliamentary candidates in England to commit to doing more about empty homes in the runup to the General Election on May 7th.
Candidates from all the main parties have been sent emails which EHA says "has prompted a good deal of interest, pledges and tweets across the political spectrum."
Email to prospective parliamentary candidates:
Dear Candidate
Empty Homes Agency campaign to reduce long-term empty homes
At the Empty Homes Agency, we are asking all prospective parliamentary candidates to pledge to support the reduction of long-term empty homes to help meet housing need in England.
According to latest government council taxbase data, there are over 200,000 homes recorded as long-term empty (that is empty for six or more months) in England. These homes can be brought back into use to help meet housing needs. Properties that lie empty can blight neighbourhoods, represent a waste of our housing assets and mean we are underutilising brownfield land that could readily provide much needed homes.
Recent research from the Halifax and the Empty Homes Agency found that more than three quarters of British adults (78%) believe that central government should place a higher priority on tackling empty homes. Over a third (36%) also said that empty homes are a blight on their local area.
Recent governments have given priority to the issue of empty homes and this has helped local authorities, housing organisations and property owners bring empty homes back into use across England. But there is still much to do and there is a risk that the number of long-term empty homes will climb back up again without concerted action by the next government.
If you agree with our aim to reduce the number of long-term empty homes, please email policy@emptyhomes.com to pledge your support. We would also appreciate you tweeting/publicising your support for our campaign. We have drafted a possible tweet for you to use below.
I’m pledging my support to reduce the number of long term empty homes – are you? RT your support. #NoMoreEmptyHomes.
Fuller details of recent EHA campaigning initiatives can be found on the EHA website here.