Newquay housing shortage could be helped by new council initiative

Cornwall Council has developed an Empty Property Strategy. It is

currently under consultation. You can view the Empty Property Strategy here.

Cornwall is 1,376

square miles in area with population of 524,000, which gives a relatively low

population density of 373 people per square mile.

The figures below have been extracted from the Data Source HSSA (Housing

Strategy Statistical Appendix) 2008/2009 and give a good indication of the

current empty property situation in Cornwall. This information is available onhttp://www.communities.gov.uk/ website

There are currently

19,800 households on the Cornwall Council Housing Register.

371 households were

accepted as homeless in Cornwall during 2008/09, of which around 60% were

families with young children and approximately 40% were vulnerable through age

or disability.

The Council

recognises that long-term empty residential property is a wasted resource that

can and should be used to assist in meeting the high levels of identified

housing need in the County, particularly for those on low incomes.

Empty property that

falls into disrepair can also be an eyesore and a potential environmental

hazard for the local community.

Empty properties are

a wasted resource, both for the owner and the community and risk becoming a

nuisance to surrounding properties through vandalism, graffiti and other

anti-social behaviours.

Report an empty

property To report an empty property please use the contact details to the

right of this page.

We are working on

providing an online form so that in due course you will be able to provide the

information here.

Empty properties can also be reported to the Empty Homes Agency on Report Empty Homes 

website. The Agency collate the information provided by the public and refer

the empty property to the relevant Authority.

The Authority plans

to reduce the number of empty properties across the county. There are a number

of different options available to the Council to tackle empty properties. These

include:-

Financial assistance

The Council may

offer financial assistance in the form of:

·        

First time buyers assistance

·        

Empty property loan

·        

Conversion loan

Financial

assistance may be available in the form of a loan to assist empty property

owners to bring their property back into use.