Harrogate council to make offers on three empty homes

Later today, a report will go before the council’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Councillor Mike Chambers, that asks him to approve the council making an offer on the properties in order to bring that back into use.

The homes are located in Rothbury Close, Osbourne Road and Eleanor Road in Harrogate.

The report says the council intends to sell the properties on the open market, with any profits being spent on future empty home purchases.

The council can issue compulsory purchase orders which allow it to take ownership without the consent of the owner.

However, the council’s first step is to always make an offer.

The price the council is likely to offer for the properties is not disclosed, although the report notes offers were made in 2019 for three empty properties at a combined sum of £625,000.

Empty homes strategy

There are currently 749 properties across the district that have been empty for six months or longer.

Of these, 209 have been empty and unfurnished for over two years and consequently classified as long-term empty homes – 28 have been empty for over ten years.

The council prioritised the problem in its 2019 empty homes strategy although it said much of the responsibility was on homeowners themselves.

It has a budget of £2.5m to spend on empty homes, which comes from the council’s reserves.

‘Blemish on an area’

There are numerous reasons properties can lie empty – sometimes, landlords cannot afford to renovate their property to sell or rent out.

Properties may also have been inherited and the new owners don’t know what to do with them.

Rentals can also fall below safety standards which means they sit vacant until the problems are fixed.

The report adds: “Empty homes represent a wasted housing resource; they also pose other problems for local authorities, owners, neighbours, emergency services and the environment.

"They are often a blemish on an area and can be subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour.”