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Empty Homes Figures Show Rise for Fourth Consecutive Year

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

Data released last week by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show a fourth consecutive annual rise in long-term empty homes across the Country, resulting in the biggest rise in figures since records began.

9 out of 10 Councils have reported rises in their empty home figures, with one Authority showing as much as a 340% rise in figures submitted in the previous year.

Director of Action on Empty Homes, Will McMahon, said:

“The new figures are exceptionally worrying. It can’t be right that in the last four years we have seen an escalating housing crisis while the number of long-term empty homes keeps rising. Today there are nearly 100,000 families languishing in overcrowded and temporary accommodation at a time when we know that overcrowded housing is being linked to the spread of the corona virus and to higher mortalityiv.

National Empty Homes Conference Postponed - New Date Announced!

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

Due to the ongoing uncertainty over the safety and all-round feasinility of holding our National Empty Homes Conference this year, the decision has been taken to postpone the event, with this now rearranged to be held on Thursday 27th May, 2021.

Whilst every effort has been made by EHN and etc. venues to ensure the Conference could continue as planned, it was felt that the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the hospitality sector and social distancing rules meant that we couldn't be certain that those delegates attending would benefit fully from the speakers, sponsors and networking oppotunities that the event has so successfully promoted in the past.

With the rearranged date now confirmed, we are able to plan and prepare for the event next year, and hope for this to be our biggest and most successful conference yet.

Information on speakers, sponsorship opportunities and delegate booking procedures will be released in due course, with all information found on our website and dedicated Conference pages.

Case Study - UK Property Rescue show how it's done, with 2-week full renovation of property during Covid-19 pandemic

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

UK Property Rescue, one of our sponsors and supporters of last year's National Empty Homes Conference, have shown how the construction industry have adapted in recent months, by completing a refurbishment turnaround of two weeks on a property on behalf of Tamworth Borough Council.

(Video & PDF case study incl. below)

Completing the works whilst the owner has been in care, the property was refurbished with the consent of the owner due to the realisation that it would be deemed unfit for him to return to upon his discharge from hospital.

Work to renovate the property included a full clearance, walls stripped back to brickwork, a full re-wire, and new kitchen and bathroom suite amongst other things.

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Action On Empty Homes release 'Pretty Vacant' report.

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

'Pretty Vacant', a report highlighting how property investment in London is reducing access to much needed housing for locals, has been releasedm by the campaigning charity Action on Empty Homes.

Working in conjunction with the Trust for London, the report highlights:

- The inaccuracies in data from which London's Housing Policy is based on

- The variation in numbers of recorded empty and second homes between neighbouring Boroughs

- The short-term let markets significantly impacting on the rental market

- The tens of thosands of homes currently under construction destined for inward investment rather than providing a supply for locals.

The report goes on to outline a number of recommendations for Government in order to solve such disconnect.

Chris Bailey, Campaign Manager and author of the report for Action on Empty Homes, said:

OTHER STORIES

Repurposing Vacant Sheltered Accommodation for Fire Safety Trials

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

With figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government showing that the number of long term vacant properties across England has risen to more than 216,000, we’re looking at the highest levels of homes standing empty (for more than six months) since 2012. Economically, this accounts for around £53.6bn of property in England alone, according to an analysis carried out by modular home and school builder Project Etopia.

Orbis Protect joins forces with E.ON to bring private homes back into use

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

Leading property protection provider Orbis Protect has joined forces with E.ON, one of the UK's top energy suppliers, to support its drive to tackle the UK’s housing shortage by bringing empty homes back into use.

Orbis Protect is partnering with E.ON on the scheme and will provide specialist clearance and cleaning of any empty properties, externally and internally.

https enabled to give users more secure access

Story submitted by DGibbens on

A more secure protocol has been implemented for accessing the EHN website

This is the 'https' or Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure, replacing the previous 'http' protocol.

https is now regarded as the standard for websites that involve payments or where users enter passwords. It means all traffic from your browser to the website is encrypted.

See www.howtogeek.com/181767/htg-explains-what-is-https-and-why-should-i-care/ for further information.

2019 Conference Line-up - Updated

Story submitted by EHNAdmin on

Planning and preparation is well under way for the National Empty Homes Conference, to be held in Birmingham on Wednesday 25th September, 2019.

As always, a strong and varied speaker line-up includes presentations from:

- Kerrie Eastman; Streets2Homes & Harlow Council

Using Council owned empty properties to help homelessness

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