Dover District Council (DDC) and No Use Empty, the Kent empty property initiative, can announce that they have helped to bring another local property on Alkham Road in Dover back into use to the community.
The Council, in partnership with No Use Empty, continues to work hard to address the number of empty homes across the area. As part of this work, the Council has recently approved a new empty homes strategy for the period 2010-2015.
As part of the initiative’s commitment to target the worst properties, an owner of an empty property in Dover has recently been prosecuted by DDC at Folkestone Magistrates Court for failing to comply with Improvement Notices requiring him to renovate the property. Following a successful prosecution, the owner was fined £9,000 plus £2,000 costs.
Local authorities have powers in place which require owners of empty properties to renovate them in order ensure they are safe. They also employ a range of methods to help owners bring properties back into use to prevent wasted housing resources.
No Use Empty also offers interest-free loans in many cases in order to provide empty property owners with essential funding needed to restore the property to use. Since 2007, No Use Empty has approved loans in Dover alone to the amount of £1.115 million which, when added to the private sector leverage from the owners results in a total investment of £4.4 million towards empty properties in the Dover district.