Empty social housing

[Hollygolightly86]

I live in a village/town in the SE on a new build housing estate. When we purchased our house 4 years ago there were a row of 6 HA owned affordable living houses in an adjacent close which I walk past nearly everyday and were all occupied when we moved onto the estate. Now 2 of them are unoccupied and 1 has definitely been empty for nearly 2 years. I’m so shocked that given the lack of affordable housing for families especially those suffering from huge rent increases that HA are allowed to leave property empty like this. My neighbour seems to think the other house has been empty for about 9 months. Both properties are very overgrown so I can only assume the HA haven’t visited in quite a while. About 3 months ago I spoke to the council & was basically told it’s nothing to do with them & to contact the HA so I called and told them but nothing has been done & they don’t respond to my emails.
Surely this isn’t right & there must be some legislation or rules about leaving affordable housing empty? They are 3 bed fairly largish properties with private drives & large gardens, it just seems is so wrong to leave them empty when so many families need homes. But not sure if there is anything I can do other than what I already have, if anyone has similar experience or has any information about where I go next it would be greatly appreciated

Write to your mp and ask them to investigate.

They might be trying to get them all empty so they can replace with social housing flats on the large gardens and drives to fit more in

I wonder if taking it to the local paper might shed some light onto the situation. I'll bet this goes on all over the country.

They’re only about 5 years old & as it’s a ‘new estate’ I wouldn’t have thought so as there are several social housing flats on the estate already.

There may be a reason. A row of council houses near me were like this and a lot of people where angry at them standing empty. But there was a problem with how they were built and the council needed to demolish them and rebuild. But it took time and money and couldn't start until all the houses were empty.

Yes that’s a point. It’s not really affecting me in any way I just find it an absolute travesty. They are nearly & look lovely inside (yes I’ve peered through the windows to be nosey!)

There might be a safety related problem, electrics, plumbing, something building regs related.

There are empty HA flats near me and they’ve been empty for over a year

not all in the same block just odd ones here and there. They also sell off any houses that become vacant in villages

I live in a borough with a severe shortage of social housing yet regularly on this estate properties are left vacant for weeks sometimes months which seems ridiculous when so many families are in B and B. At least half don’t get re let through the bidding system either it’s a complete mystery as to what’s going on

Maybe they have sold them to a developer who is waiting until they are all empty. Or maybe the HA is planning on developing themselves and waiting for empty houses too.

My DH’s elderly grandpa was literally the ‘last man standing’ in a 1950’s block of council flats. They literally waited until he had passed away and then bulldozed the lot and replaced with new affordable homes. Not sure if they were still local authority but they looked a million times better.

Write to your MP, he may be able to find out what is going on.

I think I’ll ask one of the tenants of one of the other houses, I just don’t want to come across as an interfering resident. It just makes me laugh how the media report that there is no available HA properties but clearly there are & my estate isn’t going to be the only one. They need to be held accountable if they are empty for no good reason. I have thought about the possibility that rent is still being paid by benefits so no reason for HA to care if they are getting rent on time

I lived in a block with 3 council and 1 private rental me. One flat was empty (resident lived elsewhere) and one was illegally sublet. I reported it numerous times to the council (one which is notoriously short on council housing and ships people hours away). You guessed it, nothing was done.

Some HAs reserve a percentage of their housing for asylum seekers/veterans/emergency temporary housing. Could it be this?

Anything is a possibility but it’s highly unlikely simply because of the area, it’s semi rural with poor public transport links, so probably not a desirable area for tenants in those categories

could they have cladding on them anywhere so they need those certificates to say there are safe to live in

a flat that my son was looking at can’t be sold unti they get these certificates. They are brand new and have been on hold for at least 8 months .

There has been a council house in my street that’s been empty for 2 years . Yes two years exactly last week .

Tennant in prison then exclusion order for anti social behaviour - lots of serious mental health issues hoarder and huge amount of damage done to the house at least 20k worth of damage .
it’s taken the council 18 months to do anything
He is under a managed move so won’t be coming back
but how the fuck they let a 3 bed / 2 reception house stay empty when they were aware that the Tennant could not return to the property Is beyond me
i got my MP & my local councillor involved to force the council to act

They are nearly brand new houses on a typical new build housing estate so they definitely safe/fit for living in. The whole estate is only about 7 years old so haven’t been sold off for redevelopment as site is new development.

Contact your local Councillor, they should be able to find out.

I wouldn't be so sure that there isn't a problem, it's quite common for errors to be made in new builds especially the 'affordable' homes and anything social housing wise because one way they save money is by putting them up as quickly as possible. Then they move tenants in as quickly as they can have money coming in. So things can be missed. And if they are the first people to live in the house then, unlike an older house, they haven't had anyone test run the place. I have seen some truly terrible mistakes made in these new build estates

I went to a residents meeting few weeks ago, not something I would usually do but because the empty houses were on the agenda so thought it would shed some light however the only discussion was that they’re better off empty than filled with unsavoury sorts on benefits that cause anti-social behaviour on the estate. I also discovered HA residents aren’t invited to the meetings as it homeowners only, the level of blatant snobbery on my estate is horrendous but that’s an entirely different thread! Needless to say I won’t be attending any more meetings

By any chance are these "affordable housing" under the help-to-buy scheme?

Near my place (I'm in London), there are many new builds being sold to HA under the affordable housing tag. They are help to buy schemes and the price is astronomical.

I would have thought not as the gardens front and back are a total mess, the house that’s been empty nearly 2 years has grass & weeds up to my waist in the front, surely if it was for sale it would be given curb appeal but maybe not, I don’t know how it works with buying schemes

We had this near a new build house we bought about 16 years ago. One HA house was empty for much of the time we lived in that house. We were informed that the occupier was in and out of prison!

This is rather amusing xD

That’s shocking & it’s appalling if it’s for no good reason. I will certainly email them and mention press (definitely won’t be making threats though) & see if anything happens.