Making Homes from Houses scheme success for Empty Homes week

Every March we celebrate Empty Homes Week, with the theme for 2024 being 'Powers in Action', demonstrating the powers local authorities have to bring empty properties back into use.

The Making Homes from Houses scheme is a collaboration between Preston City Council, Homes England and partners, Community Gateway Association. It turns long term empty dwellings into homes, transforming them through renovation and refurbishment.

So far, 36 properties in Preston have already been refurbished and returned to family homes as part of the project, having been empty for a total of 157 years. Fourteen more empty dwellings are currently being renovated or in the process of legal completion, in readiness to receive the same attention.

Councillor Jennifer Mein, Cabinet member for health and wellbeing, at Preston City Council, said:

"This brilliant and innovative scheme has already gained national recognition and continues to do so, with officers presenting at the Empty Homes Network event this summer.

"Empty properties can have a negative impact on communities. By bringing empty homes back into use, an area's appearance can be greatly improved and boost people's confidence in their neighbourhood.

"There is currently a shortage of satisfactory affordable housing across the country, not just Preston. Your empty property could be a new home for a person in housing need, a young family looking for their first home or an older person looking to downsize.

"Re-using your empty property could also save you money. Keeping a property empty can cost almost £8,000 a year. If there's an empty property near you, get in touch with the council to see what can be done."

Council committed funds are now at £1.6m, which is expected to result in a total of £9.3m of investment and an estimated 52 new affordable rented homes altogether.

The additional investment is largely from Community Gateway, who will own the properties, plus grants from Homes England. Once refurbished, these properties are made available to people in housing need who are either homeless or on the housing waiting list and eligible for such properties.

So far, £940,000 has been invested by the Council, using S106 developer contributions, with a total of £4.2m being spent to deliver the thirty-six affordable rented homes.

More information

Empty Homes Network 2022 awards / certificates for Making Homes from Houses project:

• "Meeting The Challenge Award" - Highly Commended
• "Best Partnership Award" - Joint Winners
• "Best Before and After Photograph Award" - Joint Winners

Find out more about Empty Homes on the council's website.

• Preston City Council has appointed Community Gateway Association to be its partner for Phase 3 of its empty homes scheme. Phase 3 commits a further £800k by the council using S106 developer contributions, levering in further investment
• In total, £1.6 million has been allocated by the council using S106 developer contributions, £940k has already been spent
• Total investment to date is approx. £4.2 million (PCC, CGA and HE funding) with an average of £155,000 spent on each property
• Average cost of building a new 3 bed property in UK is £185k so this represents good value for money
• 36 properties have been fully refurbished and occupied

Case Study

Brackenbury Road, 2021

This is the first property of this size to be included in the Making Homes from Houses (MHFH) scheme.

There is significant demand for 4/5 bedroom affordable rented properties in Preston, but they are extremely rare.

Properties of this size do not stay empty for long, as they are quickly sold and brought back in to use, so it's very unusual to find one that had remained empty for so long, 9 years in total, and where the owner is keen to participate in our scheme. Were it not for this scheme, it's doubtful the owner would have had the means or the inclination to bring the property back in to use at all.

Background

The house wasn't initially on the Empty Homes team radar as council tax had it classified as occupied as an HMO. It was reported to Empty Homes in June 2021 by Housing Standards, following complaints received of pigeons accessing the house.

Immediately it became evident the property, a former student 4/5 bed HMO, was empty and in fact had been since May 2013. The neighbours told Empty Homes officers they thought the owners lived in Scotland and appear to have just abandoned and neglected the property.

The owner was contacted and the MHFH scheme offered as an option. The owner stated the property was his pension but he was very disillusioned with renting out since the student rental market in the area had changed and stated he had no idea what to do with the property.

A brief summary of the works

This property is a traditionally constructed mid terrace with 4/5 bedrooms. There is a great need for properties of this size for larger families within the locality.

Externally the work identified included renovation of wall finish, replacement guttering and rain water pipes, new windows and doors, clearance work, external flagging. Internally the property required re-wiring, a new kitchen, new bathroom, replastering, damp proofing works, new energy efficient boiler and complete heating system, new internal doors, fire prevention partition walls in roof space, repair work to stairs, roof inspection and repairs as required, full decoration as well as any identified drainage and asbestos removal work along with upgrading of the roof insulation.

The property is now home to a Preston family.