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EHN asks Mayoral candidates to support London Empty Homes Initiative
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March 21, 2016
The Empty Homes Network has published a brief document inviting the candidates in the election for London Mayor to consider the development of a London-wide Empty Homes Initiative.
No Stone Unturned - subtitled 'An Empty Homes Initiative for London' - identifies numerous benefits of a regional approach, citing the initiatives in Kent, Scotland and Wales as exemplars.
Pointing to the tens of thousands of long-term empties in the capital, and flagging up the likely under-reporting involved, the proposal lists a series of practical steps that a London-wide initiative might encompass, such as:
- a clear, written action plan with targets and priorities attached, identifying available resources and laying out the relationship between a possible London Empty Homes Unit and the London boroughs
- a London-wide empty homes loans scheme (modelled on the proven schemes in Kent and Wales) aimed at private owners, with optional nomination rights to local authorities
- a source of loan finance at preferential rates via Public Loans and Works Board or Municipal Bonds Agency
- a London-wide empty homes hotline for reporting empties and for owners seeking advice for re-use; and London-wide advertising of available interventions
- a specific delivery stream under the London Enterprise Panel tailored to support community-led self-help housing schemes that deliver training, volunteering and employment opportunities, such as those run by World Habitat Award Winners Canopy and Giroscope[1].
- funding for DIY Home Ownership models (i.e. homesteading) – including shared ownership options – directed towards publicly- or privately-owned empty homes
- effective regulation of Property Guardian schemes to ensure that the potential for short-term re-use of empty buildings is met, whilst driving up standards and driving out cowboys
- a central advice and service centre providing access to the skills or advice needed to progress the more complex eyesore cases that blight communities, via compulsory purchase, Empty Dwelling Management Order or enforced sale
- effective engagement with public or private sector providers that can include London-wide procurement of services needed to support empty homes schemes such as property management, building surveying, legal processes for CPO, etc.
- continuous monitoring and regular evaluation to tune and improve the initiative
- support for options that connect empty homes interventions to the provision of affordable housing
- support from London to individual boroughs predicated on strong local strategies.