Latest news from No Use Empty property initiative
Sensitive and passionate about Margate’s precious architectural heritage.
Read this feature to find out how this empty unloved crumbling property in Princes Street was brought back into use.
“I’d always rather repair than replace,” Sam Causer says. “That way you can enjoy and live in these buildings because they have the passage of time embedded in them.”
The UK Housing Awards are the longest established and most respected awards in the social housing sector, recognising the ingenuity, creativity, passion and results of housing organisations and individuals across the UK, run by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Inside Housing, showcasing the very best the housing sector has to offer.
The awards ceremony will be held in London on 2 May 2018 at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge .
Others shortlisted in the Outstanding approach to regeneration category are:
Catalyst Housing
Countryside
Galliford Try Partnerships
Kent County Council – No Use Empty
Livin
London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Mayor of London and Swan Housing Association
Northampton Partnership Homes
Poplar Harca
Trivallis
To visit the official CIH UKHA webpage click here.
Iconic Herne Bay Bun Penny site returned to use
The Herne Bay site was previously home to the iconic Bun Penny Pub, which opened in 1899 when the pub was called the Royal Hotel. It changed name in 1972 and closed in 2011 after a devastating fire left it in a state of disrepair.
The property, which sits on the sea front, was a major eyesore to the area; its redevelopment has substantially enhanced the local sea front.
The revived Bun Penny site now comprises of a mixed use scheme made up of 14 two and three bedroom luxury apartments and a commercial unit on the ground floor.
The development has been completed to a high specification with a contemporary feel. 13 apartments have balconies and all the apartments have parking.
Kent County Council’s NUE scheme provided funding of £175,000 which was leveraged by private sector funding of £2,325,000, bringing total investment of the redevelopment project £2.5 million highest value project to date.
The apartments are being marketed for sale and further details can be found on the Right Move website.
Watch the NUE Promotional video which showcases our wider regeneration work in Herne Bay.
No Use Empty, the UK’s most successful empty homes initiative, sees £300,000 pledge from Dover District Council-
Award winning empty homes scheme, No Use Empty (NUE), has received a commitment of £300,000 from Dover District Council to provide top-up loans to help bring long-term empties back into use.
The pioneering scheme introduced top-up loans in 2015 and has since seen further pledges totalling £800,000 from Shepway, Tunbridge Wells, and now Dover.
The top-up loans are indicative of the success of the scheme and the importance of collaboration between local authorities.
The top-up loans will be used to support the current £4 million county wide NUE investment that has been allocated for the return of long-term empty housing stock to use and will be targeted at the wards of Castle, Maxton and Elms Vale, and Tower Hamlets.
An additional £15,000 will be added to the NUE empty loan making a total of £40,000 per unit available to unlock developments in those wards. All loans are secured and repayable after 3 years.
Steve Grimshaw, Programme Manager for No Use Empty at Kent County Council said: “No Use Empty is continually innovating to try and find the best ways to bring long-term empty homes back into use. The top-up loans are an illustration of this, and we are very encouraged to see Dover allocate a significant £300,000 to help create homes. Currently we are seeing the Government call for commitments to provide housing for first time buyers, with NUE top-up loans we are able to provide another route to access larger scale schemes, delivering much needed housing and regeneration in Kent.”
Cllr Pauline Beresford for Dover District Council, said: “We have been part of the No Use Empty scheme since it was founded over 10 years ago, and are very happy to reaffirm our commitment to the successful scheme through the top-up loans. Bringing long-term empty homes back into use is a key method of driving regeneration, one which not only provides new homes but also new sources of employment and a sense of community. Dover District has a wide range of regeneration taking place and delivering homes is a fundamental part of that wider ongoing plan.”
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council pledges £100,000 to No Use Empty
Award winning empty homes scheme, No Use Empty (NUE), has received a commitment of £100,000 from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to provide top-up loans to help bring long-term empties back into use.
The pioneering scheme introduced top-up loans in 2015 and has since seen further pledges totalling £800,000 from Shepway, Dover and now Tunbridge Wells.
The top-up loans are indicative of the success of the scheme and the importance of collaboration between local authorities.
The top-up loans will be used to support the current £4 million NUE investment that has been allocated for the return of long-term empty housing stock to use.
An additional £15,000 will be added to the NUE empty loan making a total of £40,000 per unit available to unlock developments in those wards. All loans are secured and repayable after 3 years.
Councillor Lynne Weatherly, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for Communities and Wellbeing , said: “The No Use Empty initiative has been a great success. We’ve seen dilapidated properties and long-term empty houses brought back into use, this is a good way of increasing available homes and improving the street scene for neighbours where a property has become an eyesore.”
Steve Grimshaw, Programme Manager for No Use Empty at Kent County Council said: “No Use Empty is continually innovating to try and find the best ways to bring long-term empty homes back into use. The top-up loans are an illustration of this, and we are very encouraged to see Tunbridge Wells allocate additional funds of £100,000 to help create homes. Currently we are seeing the Government call for commitments to provide housing for first time buyers, with NUE top-up loans we are able to provide another route to access larger scale schemes, delivering much needed housing and regeneration in Kent.”
National Empty Homes Week 2017
National Empty Homes Week will take place from Monday 16th October to 22nd October.
Every year local authorities, housing providers, community-led organisations and others see Empty Homes Week as an opportunity to organise events and put out information so that people know about their work to tackle empty homes. Empty Homes Week is also the chance to celebrate successes and reflect on what more needs to be done to bring empty properties back into use to help meet housing needs.
If you are interested in sponsoring the week’s activities please contact the national campaigning charity on [email protected] for more information.
NUE will be updating our website with new case studies featuring our most recent projects.
Since its inception in 2005, NUE has grown to incorporate all 12 district councils and four West of England Councils including Bristol City Council as well as providing a template for the Welsh Government’s empty homes schemes “Houses Into Homes”.
We have recently achieved our ambition of returning more than 5,000 empty properties back into use across Kent.
NUE Looking Ahead
We will shortly be announcing news on additional financial support available following the success of our Top Up Loan scheme with Shepway District Council.
Demand for our loan products remain high with a growing list of potential projects.
We continue to work with our partners and seek out opportunities to bring long term empty properties back into use as residential accommodation.
With the assistance from a NUE loan this project has recently been completed in the village of Wingham. The owner has restored this circa 18th century mid terrace home to include many of the original features and has been renovated to a high standard. The accommodation comprises of the lounge with a feature fireplace, modern fitted kitchen, spacious bedroom, family bathroom with claw foot roll top bath and separate shower. To the rear for the property is a well-proportioned garden with a decked seating area and lawn.
The property is now for sale. Details can be found at Miles and Barr
Luxury available in old Hythe Cottage
A development formerly called ‘Kent Cottage’ in Hythe has recently been completed. Planning permission was granted to turn the dilapidated property into a new development that would replace the old building and would be in keeping with its original character.
Four luxury residential apartments and two commercial properties are back into use with £100k assistance from KCC’s No Use Empty Initiative.
The owner Marc Carney, who has been in building all of his life, is very proud of his first venture into property development. The project has taken about a year to complete and plans to carry on if further projects become available.
The project received a plague from Hythe Civic Society for permanent display on the building for overall excellence and design and enhancing the visual quality of the neighbourhood.
First Loan Approved
The first successful applicant from Trinity Square, Margate has taken the opportunity to renovate an empty property into a home with the assistance from the new Thanet Owner Occupier loan scheme.
This loan scheme providing home-owners with the financial means to restore or renovate former empty buildings back to their former glory is a great way of breathing new life into the area and is a key part of the Thanet council’s commitment to the wider regeneration of the district.
By providing loans to owner occupiers to aid refurbishment works, helps to create new homes to help meet rising demand. The interest free loans offered to home-owners needs to be paid back over five to ten year period and requires the successful applicants to live within the newly renovated property for a minimum period of five years.
The scheme, administered in partnership with Kent County Council’s ‘No Use Empty’ initiative, will operate across the wards of the Housing Intervention area covering Cliftonville West and Margate Central.
Former British Volunteer Pub, Ashford
History
The original pub was converted by the army in the 1860s from two old cottages which stood alongside barracks after several licensees in the town refused to serve troublesome soldiers.
Like so many once vibrant traditional town centre pubs, it closed its doors during the summer of 2015 and remained boarded up.
The building was in fair condition but with a hole in the roof it has been partially exposed to the elements causing additional internal damage.
Galahad Developments Limited obtained planning permission to convert the building to create 6 apartments (4 x 1 bedroom and 2 x 2 bedroom).
Parking is provided for approximately 12 vehicles. The accommodation is arranged across two main floors. The ground floor has access to the front and rear
This is the very first NUE project in Ashford to receive loan funding.
Not only are we extremely pleased with the finished results but our loan has already been repaid (12 months) following the sale of the property to a housing association.
This means that we are able to recycle the money into another project to create even more new homes.
