Record Year for NUE in Dover

RECORD YEAR FOR ‘NO USE EMPTY’ SCHEME IN DOVER AS FUNDING TOPS £1 MIILLION A record £1 million was invested in returning empty homes to use in Dover in 2013 – 14, according to new figures released by No Use Empty,…

RECORD YEAR FOR ‘NO USE EMPTY’ SCHEME IN DOVER AS FUNDING TOPS £1 MIILLION

A record £1 million was invested in returning empty homes to use in Dover in 2013 – 14, according to new figures released by No Use Empty, the county-wide empty homes scheme run by Kent County Council.

Dover District Council, a founding partner when Kent County Council launched No Use Empty in 2005, issued interest-free loans totalling £1.05 million to owners of empty properties in the last financial year to fund the necessary repairs to return them to use.

A total of 54 properties were supported in the district as a result, over three times the number achieved the previous year.

Projects completed over the past year include the conversion of The Marina, a former care home on Deal seafront, into 11 new homes. The £400,000 project, the largest ever undertaken in Dover, completed in the Summer 2013, prior to which the building had been empty for over five years.

Cllr Susan Chandler, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Dover District Council, said:

“This has been a hugely successful year for the No Use Empty initiative in Dover, which sets a benchmark for the coming years. Our loans totalled £1 million, but the total investment in these refurbishments is over double that, and tells us that there is a real appetite to tackle long term empty properties in Dover if initial financial support is available to get projects off the ground. We urge any owners of empty properties to get in touch; we are aiming for another record year in 2014 / 2015.”

Steve Grimshaw, Regeneration Project Manager at Kent County Council, added:

“The interest-free loans are an important weapon in our armoury as we seek to tackle empty homes across the County. We are delighted to have facilitated this level of investment in Dover over the past year, and hope the current demand and interest continues.”

A selection of current and recently completed projects:

59 The Marina-1 100_3321 100_1409