Mid Suffolk District Council, in partnership with other councils in Suffolk, has successfully got through the first stage in a bid for more money, to help deal with long-term empty homes.

Following a competitive bidding round organised by the East of England Regional Assembly, the partnership, made up of Mid Suffolk, Babergh and Suffolk Coastal District Councils and Ipswich Borough Council, has been provisionally awarded £500,000 to support schemes and initiatives that will bring empty homes back to use to provide affordable housing.

Cllr Sara Michell, portfolio holder for housing said: “We are delighted to have been awarded these additional funds by Central Government. With the economic climate as it is now, it is important that as a council, we do all we can to provide affordable housing for the people that really need it.”

She continued: “Figures published by the Empty Homes Agency show that there are over 280,000 long-term empty private homes across the country at a time when housing need is acute; some 3,500 of these are in Suffolk. Not only do they represent a great waste of existing housing, empty homes also attract vandalism, squatting and anti-social behaviour and can have a serious and costly detrimental impact on their local neighbourhood.”

The councils will be busy through the Christmas period finalising the details of the joint project which has to be finally approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The extra funds will be used to support a range of incentives to encourage owners to bring their properties back to life, such as grants and loans and private sector leasing.

Anyone who owns or is concerned about an empty home in the Mid Suffolk and would like to discuss it, please contact the Council’s Strategic Housing team on 0845 606 6174.

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Media contact:

Vicky Smy, Senior Communications Officer, telephone: 01449 724850, email: vicky.smy@midsuffolk.gov.uk