EHN Award Winners 2023: The Best Partnership Award, sponsored by Estate Research Ltd

Presented at our annual Conference in May, the EHN Awards serve to recognise and celebrate the work that empty homes officers, team and practitioners do on a daily basis, and enable them to promote their successes and achievements through national recognition. This year was no different, with some incredible examples of projects, case studies and people, who have displayed fantastic attributes to bring empty homes back into use in their areas.

Whilst excelling at providing a range of solutions to the problem of wasted homes, undoubtedly some cases are more challenging than others and require the right combination of perseverance, imagination and appropriate tools to be brought into play.

The Best Partnership Award sponsored by Estate Research Ltd, is intended to highlight particularly difficult cases that have been successfully dealt with and in judging the submissions for this award, we look to reward those that have shown the drive and determination to see a case through to a successful conclusion.

Highly commended in this year’s category are Barnsley MBC for their partnership with Finders International, The Empty Homes Doctor, Leeds for their partnership with Leeds City Council, and Lendology CiC for their work with North Devon District Council. All are congratulated for their work and are deserving of recognition.

On awarding our first of two joint winners in this category to North East Lincolnshire Council, East March United and Equans , the panel said…

“A shining example of how the drive and determination of a community, with a vision for lasting and measurable change, can deliver a sustainable model for financing, refurbishing and returning empty homes back into use, and improving the lives of those in the wider area.”

On our second joint winner of this award, Habitat for Humanity GB and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, the panel said…

“Having developed from a pilot partnership established in 2012 with a vision to transform redundant and underutilised empty flats above shops, the relationship between Habitat for Humanity GB and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham has gone from strength to strength, overcome significant challenges, with both organisations adopting a ‘learning by doing’ approach.”

Congratulations to our award winners Habitat for Humanity GB, The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, North East Lincolnshire Council, and East March United.