The North of England needs between £6bn and £8bn to stop its inner cities from becoming a “devastated no man’s land”.
A report into empty homes published yesterday by a House of Commons select committee said that the government had to take immediate and radical action to stop the collapse of the housing market in the North.
The report stated: “It will take a long time and so must be started as soon as possible and will require significant additional funding, of the order of hundreds of millions of pounds per annum.”
It added that “far greater emphasis should be placed on prevention and restoring confidence to housing markets to stop the problem of low demand spreading to neighbourhoods already at risk”.
In addition, the report said there should be “a far more radical curb on greenfield development” in regions like the North West.
It concluded: “The alternative is that our northern cities will consist of a city centre surrounded by a devastated no man’s land encompassed in turn by suburbia. In inner urban areas disadvantaged residents will increasingly see their standards of living diminish even further and the costs to communities, businesses and the public services increase.”
The committee supported a Comprehensive Spending Review submission made by the National Housing Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Local Government Association for a housing market renewal fund. The submission estimates that additional resources of at least £6bn-8bn would be required over a 10-year period.
Secretary of State Stephen Byers told the committee that he would “do something about it in terms of the Spending Review for 2002.
“It is no secret to say that one of the main submissions that the Department will be making will be to get additional funding to address these particular concerns.”
The committee received submissions from members of the public. One said: “At the present rates of decline, my parents property will soon be worth as little as £700 – the price they paid 43 years ago when they bought it.”
The RICS estimates that those who live next door to a long-term empty property will see their property devalued by “at least 10%”.
The committee recommended that local authorities should also be encouraged to use their CPO powers to acquire and renovate empty property. “Both the threat and the use of compulsory purchase orders can be effective in bringing individual empty properties back into occupation.”
The committee also recommended compulsory leasing, a scheme advocated by the Local Government Association and used in the Netherlands, as an additional way to bring long-term, empty properties back into use.
EGi News 21/03/02
