In an announcement by Grant Shapps, the government is now actively floating its plans to help communities acquire surplus publicly-owned land and buildings. The story can be found here. As a start, the HCA surplus property portfoliio has been published.…
This is the final version of our consultation response (click link to access it) to the proposed amendments to the EDMO legislation. This now includes a propoal to review the procedures involved in obtaining an EDMO. It also suggests that local authorities…
This is a further revision of our consultation response (click link to access it) to the proposed amendments to the EDMO legislation. This incorporates a review of the possible problems associated with the word "nuisance" given its often restricted…
We've now published the third and probably final draft of our response to the informal consultation (click link to view) on the proposals to change the EDMO legislation, There have been some significant changes since the last version.Proposals around…
You might be interested to know how other organisations have responded to the New Homes Bonus proposals. Alll are broadly in favour of extending them to empty homes with more or less enthusiasm. Click on the links to download the responses from the Chartered…
We have now produced a substantially revised response to the CLG proposals to change the EDMO legislation. The revised response reflects further information given to us by CLG about the shape of the proposed amendments to the EDMO legislation, which are less…
There was a surprise story featuring Andrew Stunell released on the CLG website at some point on Monday 10th January, entitled "New incentives to tackle the blight of empty homes". This describes the New Homes Bonus and encourages people to report…
We have drafted a response to Eric Pickles' statement about forthcoming changes to the EDMO legislation. This can be downloaded from here. We have been invited by DCLG to feed into the amendment process. This document focuses on the practical changes…
Eric Pickles has announced that EDMO powers are to be curbed. This was first reported by the BBC (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12127328) and we now have the press release on our website. The exact changes have yet to be agreed although it is…
Local Sustainable Homes: How to Make Them Happen in Your Community, by Chris Bird Transition Books (2010) £14.95, paperback, 240pp, ISBN 978 1 900322 768; Kindle edition also available. (This review is also available in PDF format - see attachment at end of…
News stories like this one about Oxford's first EDMO of a home empty for 15 years are useful not only for the story themselves - a useful reminder of why we are here - but also for the comments of local residents. There's the odd idiot with some…
The Empty Homes Network has now submitted its response to the government's consultation on the New Homes Bonus (downloadable from here). We recognise that the inclusion of long-term empty homes in the calculation of housing supply will provide a very…
The proposal floated in recent Empty Homes Network publications to seek a review of Council Tax exemption class "C" on the grounds that it is a tax break that is not sufficiently justified has been dropped, following a vote by the EHN Executive. The…
We've now submitted our Consultation Response to the BIS Call for Evidence about Borrrowings and Debt. The deadline for submissions was the 10th December. Our response was only concerned with the issue of enforced sale and can be downloaded from our…
