Dover District Council and No Use Empty, the Kent empty property initiative, can announce that they have helped to bring a local property at King Street, Dover back into use to the community.
The property in King Street had been empty for 4 years and had been attracting vandalism and having a negative effect on the surrounding properties. Financial assistance was secured for the owner of the empty property through No Use Empty, a Kent-wide campaign which helps to combat empty housing right across the county working in partnership with the local districts. No Use Empty offers interest-free loans from £25,000 per house or flat, up to a maximum of £175,000, to help with essential restoration and renovation works for long time empty properties, which have been unoccupied for six months or more. In the case of King Street in Dover, the loan was secured for the property owner to renovate the unit into three high quality flats.
The renovations included numerous aspects including a new roof, replacement windows, an overhaul of the entrance halls and stairways, new kitchens, improved heating and complete rewiring throughout. Dover District Council’s Empty Property Team also assisted the landlord with the redesigning of the flat interiors, fitting out and modernisation of the building.
Dover District Council’s Empty Property Officer, John Day, commented: “Dover District Council is working hard with our partners in the community to address the issue of empty properties, and we are very pleased to be working in partnership with the No Use Empty Campaign. The No Use Empty campaign has been instrumental in helping bring empty properties such as this back into use and it is wonderful to see this level of success for a project we have been working on for so long. It can be a time-consuming process, but the benefits of recycling empty properties to communities and providing help to home owners is paramount, particularly when we can help them financially. This creates a win-win situation for everybody”.
Steve Grimshaw, project manager of the No Use Empty campaign said “It is essential that the number of empty properties must be reduced and whilst the campaign has been working to raise awareness of the problem and offer advice to property owners on the best solution, we are so pleased to also be able to give financial assistance to this type of property. Working in this way gives a welcome boost to the wider regeneration plans, and proves the No Use Empty initiative is making a real difference in Kent.”
Free help and advice is available to property owners who are advised to visit www.no-use-empty.org or call the No Use Empty hotline 08458 247605, or for more information, help or advice on empty properties in Dover District, please contact John Day at Dover District Council on (01304) 872302 or log onto the DDC website at www.dover.gov.uk.