New Powers to Tackle the Blight of Empty Properties
Many towns and cities across the UK have properties that are sitting empty: second homes or vacant business buildings. However, they are all impacting those towns, cities and high streets in which these properties sit. Couple this with the need for additional housing and the regeneration of our high streets, the Government is now looking to implement a new bill to allow local authorities to tackle these issues.
It has recently been reported by the BBC that Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, is presenting a new bill to the Government that will seek to give local authorities the ability to bring local communities ‘back to life’.
Some of these new initiatives in the Levelling Up Bill are powers such as:
- Councils in England will gain extra powers to force landlords of empty shops to rent out their premises
- They will also get extra powers to make compulsory purchases designed to contribute towards regeneration
- Neighbours will be allowed to hold “street votes” to approve or reject house extensions in their area
This bill will ultimately affect the owners of those empty properties, as local authorities will be able to double council tax on empty homes that are furnished but unoccupied, thus targeting the holiday/second-home market. Authorities will also be able to charge a higher rate of council tax if a property is empty and unfurnished after just one year, whereas currently legislation only enables this after two years.
Whilst this is a great initiative from the Government and can ultimately help get empty properties back into use and allow additional revenue growth, this bill potentially will not come into action until April 2024. So what can authorities do now?
Utilise Review Services Available
The simple answer is authorities can utilise review services right now such as our Empty Homes Review Service and our Business Rates Review Service.
Empty Homes Review
Our Empty Homes Review solution utilises specialist data matching technology and a network of experienced inspectors and revenue practitioners to carry out an exhaustive review and validation of vacant properties, on a risk and reward basis. This fully managed service supports local authorities to bring empty homes back into use and attract lucrative New Homes Bonus funding – a rare win-win in this challenging economic landscape.
Councils have nothing to lose: with a long-term empty (LTE) property removal rate over three times the national average, Capacitygrid’s Empty Homes Review service helps to tackle the social and financial challenges of the UK housing crisis and helps local authorities maximise precious funding opportunities but allowing council staff to focus on the actual long term empty properties.
Business Rates Review
Our Business Rates Review (or RV Finder) service identifies additional items that are either unrated or under-rated and gathers the right evidence to successfully get the hereditament rated via the Valuation Office (VO). The new Electronic Billing Authority Reports (EBAR) process has placed a further burden on local authorities to comply with the new guidelines and our service is set up to support this exact process.
Through our RV Finder service, we review and identify hereditaments that are not currently rated or misclassified.
Contact us to find out more about how Capacitygrid can take charge of your Empty Homes Review and conduct a Business Rates Review to ultimately generate you additional income right now instead of having to wait until 2024.
