Info requests following "Rescue a House" programme (BBC2)
You may be interested to know what the above programme is saying to members of the public about info they can get from councils on empty properties. The information appears to come from David Ireland's book "How to Rescue a House" and copyright is acknowledged:
"Local council - Your local council will probably have a list of all the empty properties in their area. Some councils will be happy to let you see the information, but beware that others may not be so open. If they won't disclose the information you could make a written request - you've got a legal right to request it.
"Finding out who owns the property
"Once you've found an empty property, how do you know who owns it? It may be as simple as asking the people who live near by. If you explain to them why you want to know, they will probably be happy to tell you.
"Many properties are registered at the Land Registry. For a small fee you can look at the register and see who the owner is. The HM Land Registry website for England and Wales is: www.landregisteronline.gov.uk
"Most local authorities have a register of empty properties and know who the owner is. Local authorities have different policies on disclosing this information. If your local authority won't tell you, you could put the request in writing citing the Freedom of Information Act 2000."
The link to the BBC website where the above quotes appear and which has more info about the programme is as follows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/property/buying_rescueahouse1.shtml
- Forums
Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
People have contacted me "citing the Freedom of Information Act 2000", and this is the reply that I now have to send to them:
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Dear X,
The Legal Opinion that I have received to a request for a list of empty homes is that this information should not be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), due to the following two exceptions listed in the Act:
Law Enforcement (Section 31) - It is deemed that the disclosure of the list of empty homes would prejudice or would be likely to prejudice "(a) the prevention ...of crime... (d) the assessment or collection of any tax. This is because there may be a risk that disclosure of the list is likely to result in an increase in squatting (which usually involves breaking into properties and criminal damage as well as being a civil matter) and/or benefit fraud, so this exemption may apply. Should it apply, then the public interest test should be applied; i.e. does the public interest in disclosing the information outweigh the public interest in withholding it. The Council is not aware of any public interest that would be served by publishing this information, although it can be seen that it would be of benefit to property developers.
Personal Information (Section 40) - It is considered that disclosing the names and correspondence addresses of property owners would be a breach of the Data Protection Act. As such, this information is exempt under section 40 (2) - an Absolute exemption, so no public interest test.
Should you wish to appeal against this decision, you may do so by contacting me and stating that you wish to do so. Your appeal will then be treated as a complaint against the Council and investigated appropriately. Following this, if you do not then believe that your complaint has been dealt with correctly, then you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office. The details on this procedure can be found at: http://www.ico.gov.uk/documentUploads/FOI%20Your%20right%20to%20know%20H...
However, I may still be of assistance to you. Should you indicate to me the sort of properties that you are interested in, I will then pass on your details to the owners of the appropriate empty homes whose details we hold. If you would like to contact me, we can discuss this option further.
Regards,
Phillip Hanson
Empty Homes Officer
Luton Borough Council
Town Hall
Luton
LU1 2BQ
Tel: (01582) 546370
Fax: (01582) 546980
mailto:phillip.hanson@luton.gov.uk
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So far no one has challenged the above decision but if they do, it will almost certainly be confirmed by the Council's complaints procedure, so then it would be passed to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your comments and experiences please!
Regards,
Phillip