Funding to continue for empty homes project
Written by Kevin Rennie on January 23, 2014
At today’s Housing Sub Committee, councillors agreed to spend £20,000 to continue the Council’s participation in an Empty Homes Shared Services project. The Council’s Empty Homes Officer, shares her time between Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders Council and the decision today will continue this arrangement.
There are a significant number of empty properties, in a variety of locations across our region, that could be brought back into use by spending time with owners to develop cost effective solutions. The reasons properties are vacant are rarely straightforward, so the Empty Homes Officer takes time to understand the circumstances before making recommendations.
So far, this shared arrangement is proving extremely successful as 4 properties in our region have been brought back into use and the Empty Homes officer is actively engaged with a further 18 property owners within the pilot Housing Regeneration Area and working with a further 12 owners across Dumfries and Galloway. The success of the project was highlighted last year when our Council’s Empty Homes Officer received the ‘Outstanding Individual of The Year’ award at the annual Empty Homes Conference in November.
Councillor Jim McClung, Chair of the Council’s Housing Sub Committee said:
“Not only is this a cost effective way to increase our housing stock, but we are doing some great work to reverse some of the negative impacts of empty housing in the region. Although I am delighted at the success of the current shared arrangement, the intention in future years is to have an Empty Homes Officer for Dumfries and Galloway.”
The funding commitment of £20k is at the same level as 2013/14.
