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Grenfell and empty homes - EHN draft contribution to the Inquiry

Submitted by DGibbens on

I have just posted a discussion draft of a document that may be submitted to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and that explores the relevance - or potential relevance - of empty homes for the disaster.

Given media reports of Grenfell survivors continuing to live in hotels, the frequent references to empty homes in Kensington and Chelsea, and the headlines when senior Labour politicians proposed requisitioning empty homes to meet the survivors' immediate housing needs, some kind of formal input from the Network seems essential.

London Mayor calls for higher EHP on luxury empties

Submitted by DGibbens on

Editorial

Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, has written to the government requesting powers to levy higher council tax on empty high-value homes. The press release does not state what level of tax should be charged but says it should be set

'at a meaningful rate that would incentivise occupation, or at the very least generate a more substantial receipt that could support investment in new affordable homes and other measures to tackle the housing crisis.'

Best Before-and-After Photos Award 2017 - winners

Submitted by DGibbens on

This was a new category in our Empty Homes Awards and it produced more entries than we have ever had, in any category.

Sponsorship from Cromwood Social

We also had a new sponsor, in the shape of London social housing provider Cromwood Social thanks in part to the advocacy of  Abdus Saleh, their Head of Investment and Development, who has had a long-time involvement with empty homes issues as an enabler.

Contributing to the Conference Brochure, the organisation wrote:

Innovation Award 2017 - winners

Submitted by DGibbens on

The Innovation Award is the brainchild of Carson Millican (pictured right), trading as Empty Property Solutions Ltd. Now based in Northern Ireland, Carson gained many years’ experience of empty homes work at different London Boroughs and with the East London Regeneration Partnership and has been a stalwart member of the Empty Homes Network for many years, serving on its Executive.

In sponsoring the award, Carson explained as follows:

Calls to requisition luxury flats for Grenfell survivors

Submitted by DGibbens on

The fire at Grenfell House in Kensington and Chelsea has brought empty homes into the headlines, following Jeremy Corbyn’s  call for  unoccupied luxury flats in the borough to be requisitioned to ensure that survivors of the disaster can be housed locally.

When launching his proposal on 15th June, Corbyn explicitly situated it in the context of the supposed buy-to-leave phenomenon (which Corbyn inaccurately referred to as ‘land-banking’). He was reported to have said:

Empty Homes Practitioner of the Year 2017 - results

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

This is our longest-running awards category and it always attracts high quality submissions, making the choice of winners difficult.

This year, the award was sponsored and judged by Kent’s No Use Empty team, who certainly are well-equipped with all the necessary experience needed to evaluate the entries.

In the event, they selected one outright winner, and also gave a ‘highly commended’ award. The awards were presented at the Empty Homes Conference in Bimringham by Steve Grimshaw, Programme Manager, Kent County Council.

2017 Conference reaches new heights

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

Delegates to the 2017 Empty Homes Conference, held in Birmingham last week, gave it an average rating of 4.73 out of 5, making it the highest-scoring such event held to date.

A strong line-up of speakers was undoubtedly a big factor. Among the most popular sessions was that presented by Kerry Morgan-Gould (pictured right) and Vicki Green, of Ashfords Solicitors, about dealing with dificult Probate cases. But that was just one example from among many.

Conference salutes Chris Skinner

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

A very successful and well-attended Empty Homes Conference on Wednesday in Birmingham contained one poignant moment, when the delegates showed their appreciation for Chris Skinner, who sadly died in February, by offering a collective salute.

Chris  was well-known for his work as a solicitor supporting Empty Homes practitioners up and down the country over many years, particularly in the area of Compulsory Purchase.  He had also spoken at two previous conferences.

Cromwood Social sponsors Before-and-After Photo Award

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

Cromwood Social has stepped in to sponsor the Empty Homes Award for Best Before-and-After Photo, which is a new award category this year. Details of the Award Category can be found in our news story here.

We were contacted yesterday by Cromwood's Abdus Saleh with the offer of sponsorship, which we were happy to accept. Cromwood Social is also going to provide Silver Supporter sponsorship.

Put empty homes officer in every council, says Shelter Scotland

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

Shelter Scotland has issued a Local Government Manifesto for Homes - part of their  'Homelessness - Far from Fixed'  campaign - which calls for every local authority to employ a dedicated Empty Homes Officer.

The manifesto is aimed at the local government elections and is part of a campaign to get candidates to sign up to four commitments.

Commitment 1, 'Deliver a home for everyone in Scotland', includes 3 action points:

Two more empty homes award categories announced - submissions please

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

 

 

We are looking for submissions for two more categories in the Empty Homes Awards 2017.  These are new categories which are being sponsored by the Empty Homes Network itself this year.

 

 

Best before-and-after photos

This Award is now being sponsored by Cromwood Social which is a part of the Cromwood Group.

Scottish Conservatives pledge further action on empties

Submitted by EHNAdmin on

Whilst the Conservative goverment at Westminster removed empty homes from the policy landscape in the wake of the 2015 General Election (following the complete absence of the issue from the Tory election manifesto) the issue is alive and kicking amongst Scottish Conservatives. Partly no doubt thanks to Shelter Scotland's successful Empty Homes Partnership, there seems to be a a broad-based, cross-party consensus about the need for central (in this case, Scottish) government to play its part.

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