Big Issue founder urges action on empty homes: ‘What are we going to do about boarded-up houses?’

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird has urged the government to take action to fill up empty homes in England with an amendment to the Social Housing Bill.

Labour’s legislation is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords. The bill is aiming to change Right to Buy scheme rules to protect new social housing stock from being sold off.

It is expected to prevent 26,000 social homes being sold over the next decade and instead boost housing stock across England by 18,000 homes, according to the government’s impact assessment.

Crossbench peer Lord Bird called for the government to go further on Wednesday (17 June).

His amendment aimed to make it a requirement for local authorities to publicly publish a five-year plan on social housing and maximising the use of long-term empty homes.

The plan would set out how local authorities would acquire social homes and renovation plans as well as spending.

It would also include an audit of current social housing stock and determine which unoccupied homes could be turned into social housing.

Lord Bird told peers: “I am not saying it would be easy, but you could be wise and do nationally what Manchester, Plymouth and Wales are trying to do: incorporate empty homes into the fabric of their housing strategies. If that could be done, it would be a real plus.”

He added: “If we spend all the money on new houses, what are we going to do about those failing estates and the voids? What are we going to do about the fact that many local authorities and housing associations cannot afford to convert void houses that are boarded up? 

“This government have to have a strategy on empty homes. I do not see that in the strategy at the moment.”

Lord Bird’s amendment comes after Big Issue joined 25 cross-sector organisations in backing an open letter to housing minister Matthew Pennycook calling for a national strategy on empty homes back in February.

The open letter, collated by Empty Homes Network, urged government to offer financial incentives such as a loan scheme and a national acquisition fund as well as tax incentives to mobilise the use of vacant properties to address the housing crisis.

Adam Cliff, secretary of the Empty Homes Network, added: “With over 300,000 homes sitting stagnant while thousands of families remain trapped in unsuitable temporary accommodation, we are overlooking a ready-made solution to the housing crisis.

“We’re asking the government to stop looking the other way and give local councils the funding and authority they need to turn these properties back into real homes for local people.”

Read more:

• Labour urged to come up with plan to fill 300,000 empty homes to tackle homelessness
• Half a million empty homes are ‘hiding in plain sight’. Here’s how to unlock them
• One million homes are lying empty in England. Here’s how we can fill them

Baroness Sharon Taylor, representing the government in Wednesday’s debate, rejected Lord Bird’s amendment, arguing that local authorities already have existing powers to address empty homes.

“I fully recognise the strength of feeling around the need to bring empty homes back into use,” said Baroness Taylor. “We do not believe that placing a new statutory duty on all local authorities to produce a detailed five-year plan on empty homes is the right approach.

“Local authorities already have powers to identify and acquire empty homes and to bring them back into use. Many are actively doing so through locally tailored strategies that reflect their housing markets and priorities.

“As the noble Lord said, we should not have empty homes while families live in temporary accommodation, and we are working with our councils to make sure that that does not happen.”

The Social Housing Bill will increase the minimum tenancy required to be eligible for the Right to Buy scheme from three to 10 years and make newly built social and affordable homes exempt from the scheme for 35 years.

The legislation will also give social housing landlords greater powers to take action against perpetrators of domestic abuse with the victim being forced out of their home.

It’s part of Labour’s wider plans to address the housing crisis. The government is targeting building 1.5 million homes while in power, although it is currently facing an uphill battle to hit that number.

Ministers have committed to a £39bn affordable housing programme over the next decade in a bid to boost the number of social homes across England.

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