Latest Empty Property News Archive 2007
October - December
Empty Property News Headlines 2007
Homes sell-off to raise repair cash - 19th December 2007
Islington Gazette - London,England,UK
This included scaling down some refurbishment plans and selling up to 500 empty homes. Residents have since been consulted and last Wednesday's meeting was ...
Cinema site turned down for housing - 18th December 2007
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph - Kettering,England,UK
By Bernie Goodjohn THE latest in a series of applications to build affordable homes on the site of a former cinema which has been empty for 11 years has ...
Empty houses may be seized - 17th December 2007
Daily Post - Llandudno Junction, UK
Its 2007-2012 strategy for dealing with empty private sector houses will be debated by the Executive Board on Tuesday. Empty property – vacant for more than ...
Empty homes tax discount removal plans - 13th December 2007
Peterborough Evening Telegraph - Peterborough,England,UK
Council bosses in East Cambridgeshire has launched an initiative to bring empty homes back into use. The council is set to scrap a 50% tax discount which ...
Empty homes 'paid for by Ministry of Defence' - 13th December 2007
Property News - London,England,UK
The Ministry of Defence (mod) is renting more than 8000 empty homes at taxpayers' expense, a BBC investigation has found. The BBC study has revealed that ...
Empty homes thought to affect property prices - 13th December 2007
Your Mortgage - London,UK
House prices are 17% lower in areas of England with the highest proportion of empty homes, according to Halifax. The lender's most recent survey of empty ...
Empty homes take toll on property prices - 12th December 2007
AboutProperty.co.uk - London,UK
Living in the vicinity of an empty property can take a financial and psychological toll on UK homeowners, according to new research. ...
mod 'pays for 8000 empty homes' - 12th December 2007
BBC News - UK
Figures show 20% of married quarters are empty, but cost taxpayers £28.78ma year in rent paid to a housing company. The mod rents another 1884 properties ...
House Prices Slow...But Don't Panic - 11 December 2008
Daily Express
...Although the property boom is slowly grinding to a halt, the modest increase may yet be a sign that it’s not all doom and gloom.
Leeds is top council for tackling empty homes - 11th December 2007
24dash - Hereford,UK
Leeds City Council remains at the forefront of efforts to bring the country's estimated 700000 empty homes back to use. Through a combination of enforcement ...
One in 4 Brits ''affected by empty homes'' – property development ... - 11th December 2007 Mortgages for Business - London,UK
A quarter of Britons have lived in a street with an empty property, according to a new survey. Research conducted by the Halifax found that many of those ...
Town to give input on shop - 11th December 2007
This is Wiltshire.co.uk - Swindon,England,UK
By Gordon Simpson PEOPLE in Malmesbury are being asked what kind of shop they would like to see open in an empty property in the town. ...
Is the city's flats market at saturation point? - 11th December 2007
Liverpool Daily Post - Liverpool,UK
Liverpool has seen increasing numbers of empty properties purchased as "buy to leave" while waiting lists and homelessness have increased. ...
One in four affected by empty homes - 11th December 2007
Property News - London,England,UK
More than a quarter of Britons have experienced the problem of empty homes first hand, research has shown. A survey from mortgage lender the Halifax ...
More to be done for empty homes, says Halifax - 11th December 2007
Mortgage Introducer - London,England,UK
One in four are affected by empty homes according to Halifax, prompting the lender to call for further governmental action. Halifax has called for the ...
One in Four Affected by Empty Homes - 10th December 2007
PR Newswire UK (press release) - London,UK
Those who have experienced living near an empty home claim the presence of the empty home has had a negative impact on the value of property (22%) and their ...
Nothing happening to empty homes - 10th December 2007
Moneyextra.com - UK
To mark the start of Empty Homes Action week, Halifax has carried out some research into how the uk's properties that lie vacant are affecting the moods and ...
FIRSTRUNG, FIRST TIME BUYERS, THE WEEK IN FOCUS - 9th December 2007
Firstrung - London,UK
This is the fourth annual Halifax survey of Empty Homes in England. The Empty Homes National Week of Action runs from December 3rd to 7th 2007. ...
Country still plagued by 300000 empty homes - 8th December 2007
Property Industry News - London,England,UK
There were 288763 empty private homes in England in April 2006, according to new research published this week by Halifax. The study has found that many ...
The streets of shame - 8th December 2007
GazetteLive - Middlesbrough,UK
There are an estimated 700000 empty homes in England, which could be brought into use. There are nearly 2000 in Stockton. In 2006/07, 508 households were ...
Thousands need a home, so why are these empty? - 8th December 2007
Peterborough Evening Telegraph - Peterborough,England,UK
The city council offers owners a range of options – including an empty property grant of up to £20000 for any works needed to bring the property back up to ...
West Norfolk empty homes shock
Lynn News - King's Lynn,England,UK
By Louise Brain SHOCKING new figures reveal there are 25 empty homes for every homeless family in the most dire need, in West Norfolk. ...
NEARLY 290000 EMPTY HOMES IN ENGLAND - HALIFAX 04/12/2007
Firstrung - London,UK
This is the fourth annual Halifax survey of Empty Homes in England. The Empty Homes National Week of Action runs from December 3rd to 7th 2007. ...
Empty homes 'still a problem' - 7th December 2007
The Mortgage Provider Online - Tring,England,UK
One factor that is often overlooked when discussing the uk's housing shortage is the number of homes standing unused around the country, and the Empty Homes ...
Delight as the council acts on abandoned eyesore - 7th December 2007
Woking News and Mail - Woking,England,UK
Ian Jameson (second right), wife Jan and neighbours in Orchard Drive are delighted that the empty property is being sorted out. NEIGHBOURS have described a ...
Plan to renovate Harlow's empty homes - 7th December 2007
Herts 24 - United Kingdom
A JOINT project between five local authorities and two housing associations will help renovate empty council homes in Harlow. The Place project is organised ...
'Report empty homes' call - 5th December 2007
Blackburn Citizen - UK
As part of National Week of Action on Empty Homes, Blackburn with Darwen Council is asking homeowners to contact the authority. It is hoped the homes can ...
Disused properties: No more empty promises - 5th December 2007
Independent - London,England,UK
Wherever you live, you've probably looked at similar unloved homes the same way. There are currently 663000 wasted empty homes in England, according to the ...
Empty homes initiative - 4th December 2007
Gloucestershire Gazette - Dursley,England,UK
By Liza-Jane Gillespie THE district council is looking for empty homes so they can be brought back into use. As part of the Empty Homes National Week of ...
Housing shortage is growing concern for Brits - 4th December 2007
AboutProperty.co.uk - London,UK
This week is National Empty Homes Week of Action (3rd- 7th December), which seeks to bring empty homes back into use as method of addressing shortages. ...
Empty homes 'still an issue' 4th December 2007
Property News - London,England,UK
A new study from Halifax has revealed that the number of empty homes in England fell by 290000 between 2003 and 2006, though some areas have seen numbers ...
Nearly 300000 empty houses in England - 3rd December 2007
AboutProperty.co.uk - London,UK
Some 15 local authorities have what Halifax defines as 'high' levels of housing stock sitting empty (with more than three per cent of property not occupied) ...
BIG REVAMP - 3rd December 2007
Grimsby Evening Telegraph - Grimsby,England,UK
In one street, 26 per cent of homes were empty at the time of the survey - more than 30 per cent of North East Lincolnshire's empty homes are in the East ...
Nearly 290000 empty homes in England - 1st December 2007
Easier (press release) - Chester,UK
To coincide with the Empty Homes National Week of Action (3rd to 7th December), new Halifax research shows that there were 288763 empty private homes in ...
Empty houses outstrip new-homes targets - 1st December 2007
This is Money - UK
The number of homes empty for longer than six months far outstrips the Government's revised housebuilding targets of 240000 new properties per year. ...
November 2007
Homeowners asked to take action - 27th November 2007
Weston & Somerset Mercury - eston-super-Mare,England,UK
As part of National Empty Property Week, North Somerset Council is encouraging people to take action. Homeowners are being asked to bring their properties ...
Empty House 'Tax' Should Boost Housing Market - 27th November 2007
4ni.co.uk - UK
Mr Robinson said that he plans to rate empty homes at 100% to encourage their use - as a potential boost for those seeking homes - possibly by 2009, ...
We build 3 million homes - or leave these families in Dickensian ... 27th November 2007 Guardian Unlimited - UK
... be done to mobilise empty houses, to help elderly people to move into smaller flats and to stamp out what is Britain's ugliest inequality: second homes. ...
Leaving home for the homeland - 24th November 2007
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Most of those who leave cannot take the money they have earned during their life and if they leave their homes empty the state will eventually confiscate ...
Birmingham aims to tackle empty properties - 22nd November 2007
Midlands Housing - UK
Birmingham has made considerable improvements in dealing with empty homes since 2003, when the council's first Empty Property strategy was launched. ...
½bn plan to boost homes - 22nd November 2007
Southport Visiter - Southport,England,UK
... with more new homes built and refurbished, and ongoing development of community programmes and facilities. Tackle issues of empty properties and improve ...
First-time buyers: first rung has just come a step closer - 21st November 2007
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Following the Housing White Paper last month, minister Yvette Cooper announced a drive to bring empty homes back into use and give more cash to councils ...
Flats nearly half of town housing stock - 20th November 2007
Dorset Echo - England,UK
Panellists heard that more than 2000 homes stood empty in Bournemouth in April this year. More than 600 had been empty for more than six months. ...
What to do with our historic homes? 19th November 2007
Pendle Today - Burnley,East Lancashire,UK
Sadly, those days are long gone and the hotel has stood empty and increasingly derelict for several years now. The developers (from out of town) see ...
Homeless to 'recycle' empty homes - 19th November 2007
24dash - Hereford,UK
... homeless people help refurbish empty properties and then move into them, is set to come to East Leeds in a partnership with East North East Homes Leeds. ...
Time for a true countryside alliance - 19th November 2007
Guardian Unlimited - UK
One person's freedom to buy a cottage with a sea view, which will sit empty for much of the year, must surely be weighed against a rural community's ...
Blitz on vacant property - 16th November 2007
Liverpool City Council - United Kingdom
A CAMPAIGN to rid Liverpool of thousands of empty and derelict buildings is to be stepped up. Enforcement action is to be taken against owners of more than ...
Homeless volunteers renovate empty houses - 16th November 2007
24dash - Hereford,UK
The Canopy Housing Project will then rent the homes back to the people who helped spruce them up. Ten council houses in the east of the city are the first ...
Parents buy up homes in advance - 16th November 2007
Inside Housing - UK
By Martin Hilditch Anxious parents are leaving homes standing empty on housing estates after buying them up for their children, a study of the buy-to-let ...
Mayor in call over Grove Hill estate - 16th November 2007
GazetteLive - Middlesbrough,UK
ACTION to bring the bulldozers in to demolish more than 200 empty homes in Middlesbrough's Grove Hill estate needs to be taken now, says Middlesbrough's ...
Carlisle brings empty houses back into use - 13th November 2007
Northern Housing - UK
This would be achieved from the rental income received when the property is brought back into a good state of repair. An Empty Property Grants scheme is ...
£2bn regeneration plan costs homes but fails to smarten the North - 9th November 2007
Times Online - UK
Landlords in some areas bought empty houses earmarked for demolition in the hope of making a profit from compulsory purchase orders, putting the overall ...
Boarded-up homes bring arson worry - 8th November 2007
The Asian News - UK
One of the most serious happened in August when 25 firefighters dealt with a blaze involving five empty homes on Nile Street. ...
Councillor: Darwen's never looked so bad - 8th November 2007
Lancashire Evening Telegraph - UK
And Coun Paul Browne has been backed by Darwen MP Janet Anderson in his claim that empty homes in designated regeneration areas such as Redearth, ...
Bricks, mortar and social engineering - 6th November 2007
Spiked - London,UK
Those who treat their homes as an investment, those who buy-to-let or leave their holiday homes empty are wrongly condemned for their part in the housing ...
New fund aims to help get empty homes back in use - 2nd November 2007
Bourne Local - Bourne,England,UK
Under South Kesteven District Council's new Empty Homes Fund, as long as a property has been unoccupied and unfurnished for at least six months and owners ...
Call to reduce homelessness - 1st November 2007
Cambridge Evening News - Cambridge,England,UK
EMPTY homes should be used to fight homelessness in a fast-growing area, an MP believes. Jim Paice wants action in East Cambridgeshire after uncovering ...
Can't sell it? Let it! - 1st November 2007
Letting News - UK
This applies equally to landlords trying to sell an investment property. An empty property is a waste of potential income and it is always preferable to ...
Success for no use empty as EDMO is awarded in Swale - 31st October 2007
eGov monitor - London,UK
Empty property officers at the four District Councils are working hard to ensure similar help and advice is available to property owners across East Kent. ...
3m new homes will not end crisis - 29th October 2007
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Councils with "robust strategies" to reduce the estimated 670000 empty homes nationally, including 300000 vacant long-term, would also get extra funds. ...
The property market - October 28, 2007
Times Online - UK
From January 1, Vat on renovations to homes empty for between two and three years will be slashed to 5%. Currently, that discount onthe normal 17.5% rate ...
Government offers cash incentives to ease housing shortage
Times Online - UK
We want to give more support to communities and councils who are doing their bit to deliver the extra housing needed, including bringing more empty homes ...
Unite welcomes cash boost for affordable council homes - 26th October 2007
Politics.co.uk - London,UK
Commenting on bringing empty homes back into use Mr. Dromey, who campaigned for the powers that councils now have, said, "Empty homes in communities full of ...
Extra 3m homes 'will not stop prices rising' - 26th October 2007
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Also included in the plans is a £510m fund to help bring empty homes back into use. Councils who aggressively target empty properties, including through ...
Will there be a rate cut before Christmas? Kate Barker knows - but ... 26th October 2007
Times Online - UK
But images of decay and dilapidation have been appearing, after our report last week on the scandal of Britain's 840000 empty homes. ...
How should city tackle homes crisis - 26 October 2007
The Argus.co.uk - Brighton,UK
"With readily-available sites drying up, the city council must be quick to get existing empty homes brought back into use, whether by compulsory purchase of ...
High cost of empty properties - 24th October 2007
Lancashire Evening Post - Preston,England,UK
Council care homes closed down in a storm of controversy remain empty more than a year later, it has been revealed. The buildings are unused and are costing ...
Tax burden warning over empty property - 24th October 2007
ic Wales - United Kingdom
OWNERS of empty property in Wales face a massive tax burden thanks to new legislation coming into effect next April, a leading property consultant has ...
VANDALISM ALERT AT EMPTY HOMES - 18th October 2007
This is Nottingham - Nottingham,England,UK
People living near empty homes which become the target for antisocial behaviour are being urged to report them. Broken windows and associated problems can ...
Tesco forced to let? - 18th October 2007
St. Albans Observer - St. Albans,England,UK
By Alex Lewis SUPERMARKET giant Tesco could soon be forced to let tenants move into empty homes it owns in London Road. With the company rethinking its ...
United Kingdom: Pre-Budget Report 2007 - 16th October 2007
Mondaq News Alerts (subcription) - London,UK
There is no mention of the use of SPVs to hold commercial property. Renovations and alterations to residential properties that have been empty for at least ...
Council house sales could raise £1.5m - 16th October 2007
this is hampshire.net - Winchester,England,UK
The council has introduced a new policy this year of selling up to 10 empty homes a year, if each needs maintenance work of more than £8000. ...
EarthLog: If this isn't state bullying, what is? - 11th October 2007
Telegraph, London
Most of us like to think of Britain as a fair country where oppressive things do not happen. Consider then what happened today to a 60-year-old disabled grandmother in the Edge Lane area of Liverpool, who wants nothing more than to go on living in her own home...
Anger at claims of housing 'betrayal' - 11th October 2007
The Argus.co.uk - Brighton,UK
... examining ways to make it easier to build council houses and the Communities and Local Government Department was looking at how to utilise empty homes. ...
Fool News: Government Lends A Helping Hand To Ailing Houses - 10th October 2007
Motley Fool UK - UK
By Szu Ping Chan 10 October 2007 Empty homes in hope of a revamp were given a new lease of life in yesterday's pre-budget report as Alistair Darling ...
Tax break for second home owners- 10th October 2007
Channel 4 News - London,UK
At the same time from next January, second home owners taking on an empty property will see the rate of VAT they are charged on alterations and renovations ...
Pre-Budget: New homes budget up to £10bn for 2010/11 - 10th October 2007
Mortgage Strategy - UK
He has also introduced new measures to bring empty homes back into use, including exploring the effect local authorities can have by making use of their ...
Plans to return empty properties to market - 9th October 2007
AboutProperty.co.uk - London,UK
To encourage more rapid alteration or renovation of empty homes, from January 1st 2008 the reduced rate of five per cent chargeable VAT will be extended to ...
There is a darkness in the city centre - 8th October 2007
Guardian Unlimited - UK
With affordable housing, spiralling mortgages and the misery of first-time buyers a national worry, a vast number of potential homes lie empty, ...
City helps people invest in their homes - 8th October 2007
Liverpool City Council - United Kingdom
Council money will be targeted at reducing the number of empty properties, alleviating cold conditions and eradicating homes that don't meet the ...
Council in hunt for possible building sites - 4th October 2007
Berwick Today - Berwick Upon Tweed,Scotland,
UKBERWICK Borough Council is about to embark on a survey of empty property and land in a bid to find how many sites are available for building homes. ...
Buying property: Old versus new? Those hidden costs - 4th October 2007
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
No one expects a resale property to be as bright as a new pin, but once the previous owners have left, the empty property can reveal its chipped walls and ...
Paying for empty buildings - 3rd October 2007
Bourne Local - Bourne,Lincolnshire,UK
"Some property owners may be concerned about the potential extra cost, but if the new law has the desired effect this is good news for everyone - empty ...
4000 wait for homes while 2000 lie empty - 3rd October 2007
Sunderland Echo - UK
Council chiefs have now decided to act in a bid to bring more of the empty homes back into use. District of Easington council's head of housing, Ian Morris, ...
NEW regulatory changes mean rents look set to rise for North West ... 3rd October 2007 Southport Visiter - Southport,Lancashire,UK
At present, developers quite often leave property empty while they work up development plans. The effect of the new regulations will be that they delay ...
Bulldozers to demolish empty flats in Bartley Green - 3rd October 2007
24dash.com - Hereford,Herefordshire,UK
Each property will also receive an electrical test and roof inspection. Where required properties will also benefit from cavity wall and loft insulation ...
Firebugs put lives at risk by torching empty house - 2nd October 2007
ic Coventry - Coventry,UK
A Warwickshire police spokes-woman said: "Although the property is vacant, it adjoins other properties that are occupied and therefore police are treating ...