Residents of an Essex town have been urged to report to the council any empty homes they have seen.
A shortage of housing in the area could be tackled if homeowners use, sell or let their properties, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council said.
The council said it would work with owners to occupy homes and may use enforcement powers to bring those vacant for two years back into use.
Residents were urged to report homes that were empty for six months or more.
The government said there were about 680,000 empty homes across England and the vast majority of them were privately owned.
As well as impacting on housing demand, empty homes attract vandals and squatters, the council said.
In the past two years, the council has brought 137 privately-owned homes back into use as residential accommodation.
A shortage of housing in the area could be tackled if homeowners use, sell or let their properties, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council said.
The council said it would work with owners to occupy homes and may use enforcement powers to bring those vacant for two years back into use.
Residents were urged to report homes that were empty for six months or more.
The government said there were about 680,000 empty homes across England and the vast majority of them were privately owned.
As well as impacting on housing demand, empty homes attract vandals and squatters, the council said.
In the past two years, the council has brought 137 privately-owned homes back into use as residential accommodation.
If so, would it have an impact on the housing crisis ?
It does seem criminally negligent that unwanted houses are sitting vacant when they could be resourced to good use.
I try to be sympathetic and wonder how it would feel if I had a house elsewhere (eg Spain) plus another here in the UK sitting idle for 6 months or more, but I don't think I could justify that sort of selfishness. Well, it wouldnt sit right with me anyway. YMMV.
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