More than 5,000 Shropshire homes are empty
Wednesday 12th January 2011, 8:37AM GMT.
More than 5,000 homes are lying empty across Shropshire, despite thousands of people in the county still being on the waiting list for somewhere to live, latest figures have revealed.
There are 4,370 homes in the Shropshire Council area and 1,774 in the Telford & Wrekin authority area which are not being used. They are among 300,000 long-term empty properties across England.
Now the Government is offering powerful new incentives for councils to get empty homes lived in again – matching the council tax raised for every empty property brought back into use, which can be spent as they wish.
Communities Minister Andrew Stunell urged communities to work with their council to identify where empty homes are blighting the neighbourhood, and start benefiting from extra cash that can be used to improve the area.
Mr Stunell said the Government will use the New Homes Bonus to match any council tax raised from a property that previously stood empty. He said: “With as many as 300,000 long-term empty properties across the UK this precious resource is being squandered.”
Councillor Malcolm Price, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for housing, today welcomed the announcement but said the authority was doing a great deal of work itself to improve the situation.
It had already introduced higher council tax fees on empty properties and was working with registered social landlords to identify homes for them to purchase.
By Russell Roberts
UK News
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yet the stiull want to build on the green belt
appauling
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Article doesn’t say whether they are privately owned or public authority, though it suggests the latter. If so then yes, the proposals for building new housing are shameful. How can it be more cost effective to build a new house than renovate an old one. We truly are a throw away society.
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