Shepway No Use Empty Plus Scoops National Innovation Award
Shepway District Council (SDC) were presented with the Innovation Award at this year’s national Empty Homes Conference held in Birmingham organised by the Empty Homes Network.
Iain Cobby, Private Sector Housing Officer (Shepway District Council) and Steve Grimshaw (NUE Programme Manager) were presented with the award by Nick Pritchard-Gordon (Chair of Empty Homes Network and the Conference).
Background
Since 2005, SDC has been a founding partner of the No Use Empty scheme, funded by Kent County Council (KCC) which offers developers an interest free loan of up to £25,000 per empty property, to support refurbishment costs. In 2015 SDC reviewed its most problematic long-term empty homes and concluded that in many cases, a loan of £25,000 would be insufficient to fund the work required to bring them back into use. SDC introduced No Use Empty Plus for the financial year 2015/16, making an additional £15,000 available to increase the maximum loan available to £40,000 per unit brought back into use.
The loans are repayable after 3 years so the money can be recycled back into the scheme which is administered by KCC on behalf of SDC.
SDC allocated £675,000 for No Use Empty Plus to 2016/17 and a further £391,000 for 2017/18.
Shepway’s problem empty homes
Economic decline, recession and some of the lowest property values in the south east have led to a historical lack of investment in some areas of Shepway, exacerbating the cycle of decline that blights empty homes. Over the last decade, the area’s ongoing cultural regeneration and ability to attract high profile investors and funding, has led to increased interest from small and medium sized property developers wanting to refurbish empty buildings and turn them into homes.
However, in many cases, the severe dilapidation of the property and an inability to access funding on the open market for renovation costs, has left buildings empty. No Use Empty and No Use Empty Plus are designed to help developers to bridge the gap between pre and post refurbishment values by providing a loan which takes account of works costs, which banks and other lenders will not do. Without our joined approach these properties would have remained empty.
Success
More homes:
45 homes have been funded under No Use Empty Plus to date of which 20 are completed and are in use, including 11 affordable rented homes.
More funding:
In addition to the funds provided by SDC, KCC have provided £1.2M from the No Use Empty scheme and a further £520k leveraged from the private sector.
New Homes Bonus:
SDC has been awarded a £365,508 New Homes Bonus for 2017/18, including £140,000 for 94 empty homes brought back into use from October 2015 to October 2016.
More Winners
NUE supported the Empty Homes Practitioner of the Year category.
All images are kindly provided by the Empty Homes Network.
