Empty properties in council’s sights with 9,000 on city housing register

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

Councillors want to extend a hand of friendship to owners of empty homes in a new bid to tackle a Welsh city’s housing pressures.

A new empty homes strategy for Newport sets out how owners will be encouraged to work with the local authority to restore vacant or unused properties, in a city where more than 9,000 people are on the housing register.

Rising demand for temporary accommodation is also fuelling the strategy, and Cllr Saeed Adan, the cabinet member for housing, said he hoped to “raise the profile of the issue of empty properties”.

A report notes around 3% of the city’s housing stock – nearly 2,500 homes – is typically empty at any given time.

City council cabinet members backed the new strategy at a meeting on Wednesday, setting out a series of “carrot-and-stick” measures for property renewal.

Officers will first try to “collaborate” with owners and provide details of the various support available, including interest-free loans.

Cllr Adan said the council wanted to “encourage owners to keep properties occupied” but would “where appropriate use enforcement”.

It can apply 100% premiums on council tax bills for long-term empty properties, effectively doubling the cost for owners.

More serious cases could see the council use legal notices or compulsory purchase orders to bring empty homes back into use.

But at the cabinet meeting, Cllr Adan said the authority would prefer to “offer support” to owners.

“It’s not just about the bricks and mortar element, it’s about the people,” he added. “We don’t want properties just sitting there while families are in temporary accommodation.”

Cllr James Clarke, the cabinet member for regeneration, said the council was “here to work in partnership” with owners of empty homes, and called the strategy a “positive move”.

The council hopes the strategy will contribute towards meeting housing need, reduce the number of “unsightly” properties in the city, and mitigate issues such as fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour it said can be linked to vacant homes.