Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Stunell and Chris Skidmore
Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)
11. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of empty homes.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Andrew Stunell)
We have put in place powerful tools and incentives to support local communities to tackle empty homes. Through the new homes bonus, communities will receive a direct financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use, and we are investing £100 million to tackle empty homes directly.
Chris Skidmore
Under the previous Government, together with local residents I fought to prevent thousands of homes from being built on the Kingswood green belt, particularly since there are 2,260 empty homes in south Gloucestershire, an increase of more than 660 empty homes since 2004. What encouragement can the Minister give my constituents that we will do all we can to get these homes back into use?