Strategy aims to tackle Telford empty homes

Most of the empty homes are in private ownership and, in a time of housing shortages, are seen as a wasted resource and a potential blight on local communities.

The council's cross party housing, economy and infrastructure scrutiny committee has now carried out a review of empty properties and private landlords and made 19 recommendations to the council's cabinet.

Scrutiny committee chairman Councillor Chris Turley told yesterday's cabinet meeting in Dawley that the scrutiny committee had worked with other councils, such as Sandwell, to share expertise and to find schemes that might work in Telford & Wrekin.

He said: "Left to deteriorate, empty properties can blight local neighbourhoods and be a focus for anti-social behaviour.

"They also represent potential loss of income to the council from New Homes Bonus.

"Over recent months the council has had a concerted focus on the issue of empty properties and overall we found much to welcome and have been satisfied that things are moving in the right direction."

The recommendations included raising public awareness about the need to report empty properties as early as possible so action could be taken and making it clear to the public that the council has limited powers to act.

The scrutiny committee also recommended an information seminar for councillors and parish and town councils to highlight the issue, developing a scorecard to prioritise properties for action and doing a cost-benefit analysis in cases where legal action has been taken.

Councillor Charles Smith, cabinet member for housing development and borough towns, said the cabinet had accepted all but two of the recommendations,

He said calls for a private sector lease scheme had been rejected because the council was looking to move away from leasing and into a "bond" arrangement, whereby the council would act as a guarantor in a direct agreement between the client and landlord.

The cabinet also rejected calls for a designated council officer to be assigned to work with each private landlord, instead saying that all officers would work closely together to make sure landlords got a consistent message about their responsibilities and about what help was available.

The housing, economy and infrastructure scrutiny committee is made up of cross party elected borough councillors and co-opted town and parish councillors.