There was an Adjournment debate on empty homes in the House of Commons on 29th November. The Adjournment Debate was secured by Jason McCartney, Conservative member for Colne Valley, reminding us that empty homes is an issue that straddles the political divide.
You can read the debate on the "they work for you" website here.
Graham Jones of Hyndburn raised the issue that the £100million could not be bid for by local authorities (as he had been informed by his Cabinet Member) and was corrected by Andrew Stunell. It is hard to get the true story about the constraints that local authorities will labour under as they bid for the £100million over to people concerned about empty homes.
Andrew Stunell confirmed that the £35million announced to cushion the ending of the Housing Market Renwal funding was separate from the £50million announced in the and also clarified that a key aspect of the "new" £50million for empty homes was that it would not be tied to affordable housing. So we are creeping towards a properly thought-out use of public money to support empty homes work even if it is to be restricted to a small number of areas.
Inevitably New Homes Bonus and the proposed Empty Homes Premium also features, with Jason McCartney pointing out the risks of driving empty homes underground.