Council to get tough on Liverpool’s empty properties

Liverpool City Council has come up with a list of 1,000 empty properties in the city and they have made a pledge to take action on the frustrating problem. The council has this week started contacting the owners to encourage them to bring the properties back into use as quickly as possible.

The clampdown is part of the city’s three-year ‘Bringing Empty Homes Back into Use’ programme and they are warning the owners that enforcement action will be taken if contact is ignored. As well as tackling void properties throughout Liverpool, the programme will deal with problem landlords and improve the standard of Liverpool’s rented accommodation. Property owners are being asked why the home is empty and what is preventing them from bringing it back into use. The council hope that the new push, backed up by the powers to take action, will prompt many more owners to bring their properties back into use, protect it with buy-to-let property insurance and allow the growing number of people looking to rent to have a place to live.

The top 1,000 empty properties have been prioritised according to certain criteria which include: the impact it is having on an area, complaints received and how long it has actually been empty for. The programme is just part of Liverpool’s pledge to deliver 5,000 new and refurbished homes for the city in the next four-years. The council believe that their new clampdown will send out the message loud and clear that they are serious about tackling the problem. Supported by a ten-point point pledge for landlords, they want to work with them to get properties back into use.

Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Ann O’Byrne, said “We are absolutely determined to bring empty homes across the city back into use and provide valuable homes for our residents. Identifying and targeting this hit list is a hugely important part of our work to achieve that. Properties left vacant blight our neighbourhoods and are a wasted resource. They can lead to a reduction in overall property values and can deteriorate rapidly, causing real problems for the community, including the accumulation of rubbish, vermin infestations, the risk of injury to children who enter buildings and arson.”

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