Scandal Of Birmingham's 4,575 Empty Private Homes - As 13,000 On Housing Waiting List

Birmingham tops a government list for having the most empty homes in England. Around 13,000 people are on the housing waiting list - as enforcement officers battle to reclaim private homes left to rot across the city. The city has 4,575 long-term empty homes - a 6.8 percent on the year before. The statistics were taken from government-published empty homes data. Across England, the number of long-term vacant properties rose 4.5 per cent to 225,845 in the 12 months to October 2019. Read more on the Birmingham Live website.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/scandal-birminghams-4575-empty-private-17994809

Forty Houses Recovered After Right-To-Buy Scams

Some 40 council houses were recovered by Sandwell Council last year following fraud investigations into right-to-buy applications. An annual report to the council’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee meeting says its counter fraud team has investigated 218 cases were tenants get discounts of up to £82,800 when applying to buy their homes. The recovered properties – valued at £3,720,000 – were taken back into public ownership as part of the authority’s counter-fraud programme. In addition, some 54 applications to buy homes were cancelled and officers calculated in total tax payers were saved £3,894,960. Read more on Birmingham Live.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/forty-houses-recovered-after-right-16634523

Scandal Of Empty Family Homes Left To Rot By Owners For 20 YEARS

Hundreds of homes across Birmingham are being left to rot by owners – with some lying empty for more than TWENTY YEARS. Our shocking gallery of neglect shows just five of the privately-owned houses the city council is about to buy up after all attempts to get the owners to act were exhausted. They include a house in Livingstone Road, Perry Barr, that has been empty since 1997. It was last lived in when Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister and Aqua’s Barbie Girl topped the charts – and has been unloved for the 22 years that have passed since. Read more on Birmingham Live.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/scandal-empty-family-homes-left-15864946

Council Tax Hike Planned For Solihull's Empty Homes

Some empty homes in Solihull could see a council tax increase of up to 300 per cent as part of a push to get vacant houses back into use. Plans are being drawn up to impose new premiums on those properties which have been unoccupied for the longest periods of time. With increasing demand for housing across Solihull, the council hopes that a hike in bills might persuade owners to act. Figures from last month state that there are 1,212 empty homes in the borough. Read more on the Birmingham Live website.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/council-tax-hike-planned-solihulls-15676853