Council Empty Property Success

Date: 13 January 2014 PR No: 3786 Status: For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE

Council Empty Property Success

Thanet District Council has today (Monday 13 January) announced its continued success in bringing empty properties in Thanet back into use. The council’s performance report published today shows that

83 empty properties have been brought back into use, 27 more than the target of 56 by November 2013.

Successes have included empty properties at:

• 11 Wellesley Close, Broadstairs which was in a poor condition. The council arranged for works to be carried out with the assistance of a No Use Empty loan and the property has now been rented.
• 32 Fitzroy Avenue, Margate was featured on Britain’s Empty Homes. The property had been empty for some time and was sold at auction in February 2013 and was promptly brought back into use.
• 184 Millmead Road, Margate which became empty in August 2012 after a previous tenant carried out structural alterations making the property uninhabitable. The property was vandalised and attracted antisocial behaviour. With the assistance of the council’s Housing Regeneration team the owner was persuaded to sell the property and it was brought back into use by the new owners.
• The former Hotel Embassy, Margate. The building was empty, had fallen into disrepair and been vandalized. The council purchased it as part of the £23m Live Margate project which aims to improve living and housing standards and encourage investment in the area. The building which was a 20 bed house in multiple occupation was this year transformed into 2 modern four bedroom family homes and keys were handed to the new tenants in September 2013.

Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr. David Green said: “I am delighted with the news that the Housing Regeneration team have exceeded their target in bringing empty properties back into use. They have been working extremely hard on this priority and the excellent results speak for themselves.

Empty properties in a poor state of repair are blight on our district as well as a wasted opportunity for much needed housing. They can also attract anti social behaviour, vandalism and seriously affect neighbouring property values. By bringing a further 83 properties back into use we have encouraged investment, improved living and housing standards in our local neighbourhoods and helped to meet the increasing demand for quality affordable housing in Thanet.”