Councils still without extra powers to crack down on empty homes

A government pledge to tackle the housing crisis by giving councils more powers to crack down on empty homes has yet to be implemented, it can be revealed, leading to calls on Theresa May to act urgently.

On Monday, as the prime minister unveiled a package of measures to boost housebuilding, the housing secretary, Sajid Javid, said ministers had already taken steps to tackle the problem of homes being left uninhabited.

He claimed local authorities had been handed the ability to charge more council tax for vacant properties, adding: “So we’re taking action on that.”

But the Guardian can reveal that the policy outlined in the Autumn budget, to allow councils to double the amount of tax levied on homes if they are left empty, has yet to be enacted.

The campaigner Guy Shrubsole, who runs the Who Owns England group, obtained an email from a government official saying the proposal “is not yet in place since it needs an amendment to primary legislation”.

He uncovered the minutes of a Westminster council meeting that said government officials had “highlighted a potential risk in relation to the government meeting the legislative timetable necessary for a 1 April 2018 implementation”, which could delay action until 2019.

Pointing to the huge number of people sleeping rough on London’s streets, Shrubsole said: “It’s a national scandal that we still have thousands of homes lying empty, many owned by billionaires and offshore firms.

“The government’s unforgivable delay in introducing its promised new empty homes tax means councils will lose out on millions of pounds of revenue that could be spent on affordable housing. And the wealthy owners of empty properties will keep laughing all the way to the bank.”

Source: theguardian