The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:

independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

Low Demand Policy Statement

What is Low Demand?

Low demand for housing is a growing problem in some areas of the north and
midlands of England. There are almost 1 million homes (937,000) located in
areas of low demand for housing. That's roughly equivalent to the number of
homes in a city twice the size of Birmingham. The Empty Homes Agency, an
independent campaigning charity, recognises that problems of low demand
for housing is the result of a number of complex and inter-related factors
including housing market failure at a sub regional level.

Low demand areas are characterised by limited market choice, the departure
of economically active households, poor conditions of unpopular housing,
poor facilities and inadequate local services. Both the private and the social
housing sectors are affected.

The picture opposite is typical of

private sector low demand in
Manchester and Salford. Row
after row of red-bricked terraced
houses, which at one time were
very popular for local people,
Typ now stand empty waiting for
ical Low Demand Housing in demolition or refurbishment.
Manchester

Why do we have low demand?

‘No-one wants to live here’

Low demand is recognised to be a complex and inter-related problem.
Many practitioners point to ‘neighbourhood failure’ as the cause of low
demand due to factors including economic restructuring and
demographic changes.

Push Factors
• Neighbourhoods in decline: anti-social behaviour and
abandonment, crime, drugs and social & economic decline
 The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:
independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

• Predominance of a single tenure and dwelling type: (- typically

Coronation Street pre 1919 terrace housing - see above picture)
which in some cases, no longer meets peoples aspirations
• Stigma: Loss of neighbourhoods reputation
• Market for social housing is diminishing while existing social
housing tenants with more housing choice flee - ‘failing
neighbourhoods’.

Pull Factors
• Leap frogging: People are more mobile with more housing
choice (Cheaper housing and mortgages) and are choosing to
leave inner urban areas for urban fringes
• Doughnut Effect: Too may homes are built and still being built
on Greenfield sites. Cheap houses built on the urban fringes
drains urban populations
• Most householders aspire to owner occupation. Householders
with choice are relocating to more desirable areas where their
housing investment is more secure, leaving behind older
householders, those that are less economically mobile and
householders trapped in negative equity

The Agency acknowledges that local authorities and Registered Social

Landlords do not have the capacity to tackle low demand and the failing
housing market because ‘housing management’ alone will not provide the
solutions. What is needed is a sub regional response involving all the major
stakeholders (a multi-agency approach) to tackle housing market failure and
to help prevent the spread of low demand to other neighbouring areas.

The EHA endorses the provision of additional Government funding to tackle

low demand for housing and housing market failure.

The Agency will be calling for the development of effective community

partnerships at local level and for the meaningful involvement of the
community sector in developing strategies at regional and sub-regional level
to tackle low demand for housing & housing market failure.

The Agency also believes the failure to fully implement revised planning
guidance, PPG3 on Housing, is undermining urban regeneration. EHA is
calling for more effective implementation of PPG3 to ensure priority is given to
making use of ‘red field’ land and ‘brown-field’ land, before green-field land,
for new house building.

The Agency supports proposals for a) the licensing of private sector landlords
and b) giving local authorities discretion to charge full council tax on empty
property where this is appropriate.
 The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:
independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

The Agency will continue to inform and encourage all housing sectors to
consider the various tools and initiatives to tackle low demand and housing
market failure – full details are available on our website –
www.emptyhomes.com and can be freely downloaded for individual use.

The EHA believes that the solution to low demand needs a sub regional
approach, bringing together local and regional government, Registered Social
Landlords, and other major stakeholders to develop and implement a strategy
to tackle low demand and housing market failure at the regional and sub
regional level.

Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders

The Sustainable Communities Plan, published on 5th February 2003,

provides the Government framework for a major programme of action that will,
over the next 15-20 years, tackle the pressing problems of communities
across England. One of the key areas forming the basis for the action
programme is the tackling of low housing demand and housing abandonment:
sustained action to turn round areas where housing markets have failed. Over
the next three years, £500 million is being made available for some of the
worst affected areas, known as Pathfinder market renewal areas, with the
intention of reversing low demand by 2010.

There are nine Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinder areas:

 Birmingham and Sandwell

 East Lancashire

 Humberside

 Manchester and Salford

 Merseyside

 Newcastle and Gateshead

 North Staffordshire

 Oldham and Rochdale

 South Yorkshire
 The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:
independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

Partnerships of local authorities and other major key stakeholders will develop
strategic plans for whole housing markets. The bulk of the Market Renewal
Fund will be allocated following negotiation with each Pathfinder on the basis
of outputs and outcomes included in their strategic schemes. Over a 10 to 15
year timeframe, the schemes will involve radical and sustained action to
replace obsolete housing with modern sustainable accommodation, through
demolition, refurbishment and new build. They will also ensure the other
essential requirements of sustainable communities i.e ‘Community Anchors’
(eg’s good schools, shopping centres and open spaces) are addressed, such
as good quality customer-focused services, good design and delivering clean,
safe, healthy and attractive environments in which people can take pride. The
Market Renewal Programme will be supported by other initiatives such as
Neighbourhood Renewal and New Deal for Communities, and by 2005 the
Government expects these strategic action plans in place and work
commencing on large scale clearance, refurbishment and new build,
complemented by improvements in local services

Historically the work of the Empty Homes Agency has been focussed on the
issue of empty properties in areas of high demand. This position was
fundamentally challenged by our Community Fund project, which ended in
2002. This project, working closely with communities in areas of low demand,
demonstrated to the Agency the importance of expanding our work to include
solutions to empty homes in low demand areas, where high demand solutions
clearly will not be effective. Since 2002 the Agency has worked hard to
include solutions to empty homes in low demand areas as a key part of our
national remit.

As a result of this strategic change in direction, the Agency welcomed both

the scope and the scale of initiatives proposed and underway in the
Government's Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder areas. We were fully in
support of the broad philosophy of the pathfinders working across local
authority boundaries and developing very long-term time-lines. As will become
clear below we have a few reservations about the direction of this work, but
we are totally in support of the broad thrust of this exciting programme to
tackle the issue of low demand in housing.

The Agency also secured a new Community Fund (now known as The Big
Lottery) grant over three years specifically to support communities in areas of
low demand. We now have a Northern office, based in Barnsley and a sub-
office in Sheffield and have two full-time staff, (Low Demand Project Manager
and a Community Support Worker) working on this exciting new project.
Please see www.emptyhomes.com/ld/ldhome.htm for more information.

Whilst we have been keen to support the pathfinder initiative, we remain

concerned at the level of support and resources going into areas outside of
the pathfinders. We have been overwhelmed by the high level of interest from
 The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:
independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

local authorities and RSLs in our low demand project. There is a real appetite
for ideas and good practice on low demand in such areas.

At the start of any such initiative such as this, it was never going to be
possible to include all low demand areas and failing housing markets within
the pathfinder areas. Yet there must also be a realisation that the pathfinders
do not include all the challenges on low demand and there is a real need for
support and resources to non-pathfinder areas working on low demand. The
recent announcement, by OPDM, to include major funding for other ‘non-path
finder’ areas, such as Tees Valley and West Yorkshire is very welcome.

The Empty Homes Agency, through its work with local authorities and RSLs,
is keen to continue promoting good practice around the country such as
through our Annual Empty Property Awards, where an award is given
annually for the Best Low Demand Strategy. The Low Demand Project
Manager has spoken at several housing seminars, run workshops on empty
homes and low demand issues at national and regional Conferences of
BURA, the Chartered Institute of Housing, TPAS, Urban Forum and is
continuing to do so in an effort to disseminate good practice and innovation.
We are keen to assist in this area of work, but do believe that there needs to
be greater national co-ordination and the Deputy Prime Minister’s
announcement at the Sustainable Communities Summit 2005

to create a National Academy in Leeds, is a major step forward in this area.

The Agency jointly ran (with the Chartered Institute of Housing) a Low
Demand conference entitled: - ‘Tackling your Empty Homes and Low Demand
- Helps to Sustain our Communities! in the north of England on the 25th May
2005.

Another positive result of the determined drive of dissemination of good

practice and innovation by the EHA, the Low Demand Project Manager has
been appointed to the ODPM’s Advisory Network of the Housing Market
 The Empty Homes Agency is an Head Office: Northern Office:
independent campaigning charity, which The Empty Homes Agency The Empty Homes Agency
exists to highlight the waste of empty 195-197 Victoria Street PO Box 3609
property in England and works with others London Barnsley
to devise and promote sustainable SW1E 5NE S75 1WW
solutions to bring empty property back Phone: 020 7828 6288 Phone/Fax: 01226 390 093
into use. Fax: 020 7828 7006 Mobile: 07719 798 033
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.emptyhomes.com

Renewal (HMR) Pathfinder programme. It is hoped that in this area of low

demand for housing, (and in the not too distant future), that there will be found
many examples of good, sound innovative ideas that will resolve some, if not
all of the current national ‘negativity’ issues surrounding the pathfinders – see
www.fightforourhomes.com. Whilst it is our opinion, that there is the need for
some ‘minor’ demolitions in some areas, the Empty Homes Agency is looking
to the Pathfinders for more consultation, more fresh thinking and more
refurbishment as the answer.

Now that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Housing, Planning,
Local Government and the Regions Committee have considered all the
‘Written Evidence’ which was submitted to them as part of the HMR
programme – see
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmodpm/295/295we
01.htm

for further details, the Empty Homes Agency looks forward a more unified
national approach to tackling the problems of Empty Homes and Low Demand
in England.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Housing, Planning,

Local Government and the Regions Committee has also published it’s Eighth
Report of Session 2004-05 (for full details please click on the link below)

www.parliament.the-stationery-
office.co.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmodpm/295/295.pdf

It is hoped, that by major stakeholders continually working together and

sharing their experiences (good and bad) and also sharing their good practice
examples, innovation and knowledge, that the whole issue of empty homes
and low demand will be resolved much earlier that anticipated.