Owners of empty houses in Wolverhampton are being encouraged to access help and support to bring their properties back into use.

Wolverhampton City Council is supporting National Empty Homes week, which is taking place this week, which aims to make more empty private homes available for the benefit of families who need homes.

There are more than 13,000 households on the council's housing waiting list and the authority takes a proactive approach to working with owners of private empty homes and to bringing them back into use and help meet this demand.

Wolverhampton City Council's private sector housing team offers advice and assistance to owners. This can include information on the legal responsibilities and standards in renting out a property and becoming a private landlord, energy efficiency information and, in some cases, assistance with refurbishment of empty properties.

The authority also offers a hassle free property management service under the Private Sector Leasing Scheme, which is run in partnership with Wolverhampton Homes.

Under the scheme, an appointed agent will look after collecting the rent, managing repairs and reletting the property over a 3 year period.

Since 2004, more than 1,000 properties have been brought back into use either through advising and supporting private landlords, or using enforcement action as a last resort.

Councillor Peter Bilson, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Prosperity, said: "We hope this week will help raise awareness of the issue and the need to bring more houses standing empty in the city, back into use.

"We take a proactive approach to working with private landlords to get more empty houses back on the market, to help meet housing demand and also to secure a regular income for owners.

"Ensuring that there is decent and affordable housing in the city is one of our key priorities and our Empty Properties team will keep working hard to help achieve this."

Owners of empty properties are invited to contact the council on 01902 551155 or visit Type=articles;Articleid=684;Title=Housing; for more information.

If residents or neighbours are concerned about an empty property in their area they can contact the council on the same number 01902 551155.

  • released: Monday 25 November, 2013