Camden Council bringing one empty home a week back into use

In the last 12 months Camden Council has taken action to bring 52 empty properties back into use, providing high quality accommodation for local people.

The news comes as councils from north London come together to promote a National Week of Action on Empty Homes.

Camden Council provided grants totalling £460,000 to enable property owners to carry out much needed renovation work on their empty properties.

The grants are given on the condition that the council is able to nominate residents to rent the properties.

Providing grant assistance is one way in which the council can ensure that neglected properties in the borough don’t sit empty when they could be used by families in need of accommodation.

The council is also working with shop owners to convert empty space above shops into useful accommodation, which has resulted in one property being converted into two new flats.
 
As part of the council’s drive to bring properties back into use, it has used enforcement powers against owners of long term vacant properties.

In October, the council decided to make a compulsory purchase order on a property on Camden High Street that had been vacant for over ten years and served notice on two other properties.

The notice instructs the owners to clean up the building and clear the land around the property, where the condition of the property is adversely affecting the local area.

Councillor Chris Naylor, Executive Member for Homes and Housing Strategy, Camden Council, said: “I’m really pleased to see how many homes we’ve been able to bring back into use for local people.

"We are committed to working with owners to help them carry out work to bring their properties back up to scratch. However, we will also take necessary enforcement action to make sure that valuable properties don’t sit empty on our streets.”