‘OUR housing teams are working hard to reduce the number of empty homes’ Teignbridge District Council (TDC) have said.

The comments came as the authority marked National Empty Homes Week, which ran from March 3 to March 9.

TDC says that its long-term empty properties are just 0.54 percent of total housing, well below the regional, 0.9 percent, and national, 1.03 percent, averages.

The council has various avenues to support owners to bring their properties back into use, including flexible loans in partnership with Lendology CIC for refurbishing empty residential properties and converting unused commercial spaces; grants, subjecting to funding (where loans are unaffordable), linked to letting the property for a specified period and a private sector leasing scheme (PSL) for hassle-free, guaranteed rent with fully managed properties.

Once a property has been unoccupied for one year or more, a 100 percent long term empty homes premium is applied, doubling the standard council tax charge.

Where owners are unable or unwilling to bring empty properties back into use, TDC can also ‘take enforcement action which can result in enforced sale, compulsory purchase or empty dwelling management orders.’

‘We recently helped the owner of a former nursing home convert it into four flats with a Lendology loan’ TDC said in its latest newsletter to residents.

‘The sale of the flats is underway, with the loan to be repaid upon the sale of the first flat, allowing us to recycle funds and bring more empty properties back into use’.