Residential Accommodation: Empty Homes

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Swinburne (Con)]

I wholeheartedly agree with the noble Baroness that we need to drive down the number of empty homes across every part of the country, and as a former councillor, I am all too familiar with the issues of getting those properties back on the market. The Government have put in place incentives for local authorities to act. As I just mentioned, they will be able to double their council tax on those homes after one year rather than two years to fund local services, and, through the new homes bonus, local authorities also receive the same funding reward for bringing empty homes back into use. Of course, we will continue to engage with local authorities to drive down numbers. Some statistics on the devolved nations may be of interest to the noble Baroness: 1% of properties in England are currently classified as long-term empty, whereas in Wales the figure is 1.7% and in Scotland 1.6%. Therefore, all nations in the devolved system are trying to get these numbers down.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

Would an easier opportunity not be to look at all the empty shops in every town and city in the United Kingdom? Those shops will not come back into use because of the increase in direct-sale opportunities. Will my noble friend therefore take a close look at finding an incentive for local authorities to convert those properties into flats, particularly for our younger people?

[Baroness Swinburne (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. The reality is that the Government have taken many steps with regard to permitted development rights to try to get some of those non-residential properties into residential use. I am sure that my noble friend is aware of some of them, but I would be delighted to give him some statistics from the department in writing.