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Kent's Empty Property Initiative
Kent County Council launched its ‘No Use Empty’ campaign in 2005 as part of its second round PSA commitments to examine better ways of delivering services, and particularly at working more effectively with district councils. The primary aim of the Initiative is to improve the physical urban environment in Kent by bringing empty properties back into use as quality housing accommodation and to raise awareness of the issues surrounding empty properties highlighting the problems they cause to local communities.The initial campaign focused on four East Kent districts. Having exceeded the original targets set, the initiative was expanded to embrace the whole of Kent with all 12 local councils on board and continues to go from strength to strength.
There are currently around 18,515 empty properties across Kent, of which 8,676 have been empty for more than 6 months, depriving people of a much needed home. The objective of the initiative is to raise awareness of the issues surrounding empty housing and the problems they cause to local communities, and to help reduce the number of long term empties by bringing them back into use.
£4.1M million loans, (from £25,000 to £175,000) have been awarded to property owners across Kent to date. This has also levered in £8.1 million private sector finance in form of owners contributions to the local economy, particularly relevant in these turbulent times, where funding available to owners and developers has been restricted or lending criteria tightened.
No Use Empty will support the existing work carried out by the local councils to tackle the problem, giving housing officers access to a wider group of resources, skills and experiences and engaging in a joined-up approach with Kent County Council and bordering districts to achieve improved results in returning properties back to use.
