Moray Council criticised by Scottish Empty Homes Partnership for empty homes service scrapping
A council-funded scheme which helps “reduce anti-social behaviour and create more affordable housing” is being scrapped.
Moray Council’s decision to axe the empty homes service, which can help families get back on their feet, has been attacked by the government-funded Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP).
The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) said Moray’s empty homes service helped to reduce anti-social behaviour and create more affordable housing.
In a new report, the organisation criticised the council’s decision to scrap the service and the dedicated empty homes worker role, due to “budget pressures” at the end of July.
SEHP warned Moray Council that their decision was “a move that could have significant negative implications for tackling empty homes in the area”.
Moray Council said it plans to continue trying to turn around empty homes and that other council teams will take on the workload.
A spokesperson: “While the dedicated empty homes post was removed as part of budget pressures, statutory work on empty homes is continuing with existing environmental health staff picking up these responsibilities.
“In parallel our housing strategy and development team continues to prioritise acquisition of properties which have been empty for a prolonged period, where it is affordable to bring them back into use.”
Last year, according to Scottish Government-funded SEHP’s, 1875 long-term empty properties were back into use and almost 11,000 empty homes have returned to the housing supply since 2010.
The organisation’s national manager Tahmina Nizam said: “We are disappointed by Moray Council’s decision to discontinue the empty homes service.
“The service has demonstrated the tangible benefits of having dedicated personnel to tackle this issue, revitalising properties to boost local economies and providing much-needed housing.
“The decision will have a negative effect on work to acquire empty homes as part of an acquisition programme and will also take away a vital resource for owners wishing to bring their homes back to use, or neighbours faced with stress from living next door to an empty home.”
Case studies: Bereaved husband, two-year insurance nightmare and vulnerable adult helped
Trudi Lawrie has worked as the council’s home improvement officer, in charge of empty homes work, since 2014.
Despite the service and empty homes role being scrapped, she provided several case studies from Moray for SEHP’s annual impact report.
In one case study, Ms Lawrie writes that a homeowner’s wife passed away shortly after the couple bought a run-down rural property they hoped to refurbish for their retirement.
Plans for their home, including new kitchens and bathrooms, had already been drawn up by the man’s wife before her tragic death.
But her husband “could not face completing his wife’s work without her”, Ms Lawrie added.
With the property sitting empty for more than two years, the widower suffered significant financial pressure.
However, through the empty homes service, the man received empty homes discount, was given access to discounts and tradespeople, and the property was eventually sold to recoup the costs.
Ms Lawrie writes: “The owner was then able to take his first holiday in years and start to fully grieve the loss of his wife.
“He was very appreciative of the support and empathy he received from the officer which allowed him to start rebuilding his life, sending a thank you card expressing his gratitude.”
Another case study, from 2016, centred on a couple forced to live in their fire-damaged home’s back bedroom for more than 18 months.
The couple, aged over 60, were supported by the empty homes service after a serious chimney fire wrecked their family home.
Despite the property being insured, the couple had to move in with their adult son after their insurance firm refused to fund repairs.
Worried they were “imposing” after six months living in their son’s home, the couple returned to their “damp, cold, fire damaged property” to live in a back bedroom which was the only room undamaged in the blaze.
The couple endured these conditions for another 18 months.
Two years after the fire, their insurance company were told to pay rent on a nearby flat to allow them to leave their fire-damaged home but still refused to cover repair works.
Ms Lawrie said that the “exhausted” couple then turned to Moray Council’s empty homes service.
After applying for grants, the homeowners then received the “final and much needed cash injection” to repair the home.
“The owner did not know how they would have finished the project or how long the property would have sat empty without this final push,” Ms Lawrie said.
As a result, after more than three years lying empty, the property was finally upgraded at the start of January 2017 and is now back to being the family home.
Another case study told how the service helped a homeowner who had “significant hoarding and mental health issues”, whose empty property was hit by “vermin and antisocial behaviour”.
And, as a result, the troubled property could now become affordable housing.
The “poor condition” town centre property, Ms Lawrie writes, was often targeted by antisocial behaviour and illegal entry, leading to complaints from neighbours and visits from police, fire services and environmental health.
Due to the homeowner’s age, health and property condition, he now lives in a council house and is accruing debts on both properties - though “making some payment of arrears”.
However, the council established a support group which included housing and council tax staff, alongside a dedicated social worker.
While tackling the problem is an “ongoing process”, the report said, the empty property could potentially boost the local supply of affordable housing after the owner expressed an interest in selling the property back to Moray Council.
