Professional Documents
Culture Documents
All of our data is based on information that we collect during the year in our
Customer Relationship Management system, Zoho. (www.zoho.com)
Background on the figures in the summary report
We are not producing a full report, as Real Improvement have in previous
years. However, here is more detail on the figures included in our summary
report:
Number of empty homes in Leeds
This figure has been provided to us by Leeds City Council. It is the total
number of empty homes in Leeds that have been unoccupied for six months
or more, as at April 2016.
Estimate of empty homes that are privately owned.
This is an estimate in reality we think the percentage figure is likely to be
higher than this. Data on Leeds Data Mill suggests there were 78 long term
empty homes owned by Leeds City Council in March 2016. There will also be
a limited number of homes owned by social landlords and other public sector
bodies in the city. We dont have an exact figure for this but are confident in
stating that at least 90% of long-term empty homes are privately owned.
The open data relating to empty homes is available on Leeds Data Mill:
Empty
Homes
owned
by
Limited
Companies:
http://leedsdatamill.org/dataset/long-term-empty-properties-owned-by-ltdcompanies
City-wide empty property trends:
http://leedsdatamill.org/dataset/city-wide-empty-properties-trends
Number of empty properties by ward:
http://leedsdatamill.org/dataset/private-sector-long-term-empty-properties-byward
How many empty homes did we bring back into use this year?
During the financial year 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 77 long-term empty
homes were brought back into use with our support. We count a home as no
longer empty when we receive confirmation from the Council Tax Department
that the home is now reoccupied.
There is often a delay between us finishing our work with an empty home
owner, and the home becoming re-occupied. This can be for a number of
reasons, including a delay in a tenant moving in or because we finish
working on a property when it is sold and have no further contact with the
new owner.
As a result, some homes that we work on in a one financial year are counted
in the following financial year. 26 of the 77 homes counted in this year were
homes that we finished working on in the previous financial year. However,
we did not count them in that year, as they were not confirmed as re-occupied
by the end of that accounting period.
We used this same methodology in reporting the number of homes brought
back into use in previous financial years so we are confident that the figures
give a true record of the number of homes we have helped to bring back into
use.
We were given a target of 60 homes back into use during the year 2015-16.
This target increased from 50 in the previous year and 40 the year before.
Final outcomes
We havent gathered enough information this year to give an accurate figure
for what has happened to homes that we have brought back into use ie
whether they are sold to an owner occupier, rented out etc. We have now
revised our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system so that we
will gather this information in future years.
In broad terms, we are confident that, as in previous years, the majority of
homes that we work on have ended up in the private rented sector, with a
smaller number sold to owner-occupiers.
Three were sold to social
enterprises.
How long did it take us to bring homes back into use?
We record, in our CRM system, the date that an empty home owner first
contacts us, and the date of our final contact with them. In some cases, eg
where a home is sold to someone else, who subsequently spends time
renovating the home, it may be some months before the home is reoccupied.
However, this statistic aims to give an idea of how long it takes us to resolve
issues with empty properties, and points to the complexity of many of the
cases that we take on.
Which postcode areas did we work in most?
This list shows the postcode areas where we were successful in bringing
empty homes back into use this year. The infographic shows that half of the
homes we brought back into use were in 4 inner-city postcode areas.
We recognise that New Homes Bonus is top-sliced from all Local Authority
budgets, and then redistributed and our calculation does not include the
income that Leeds pays in to the central pot. We also recognise that New
Homes Bonus is not paid on each specific home back in use instead it is
paid on the total, net figure of new homes available to live in this year.
Nonetheless, the 77 homes that we helped to bring back into use contribute to
this net figure the figure upon which New Homes Bonus for the city is
calculated.
Other figures not included in the summary report
Research identifying homes that are incorrectly classified as empty
Alongside our work to support empty home owners, we undertake research in
order to identify any homes that are incorrectly classified as unoccupied on
Council Tax records. Sometimes, owners forget to tell the Council that their
home is no longer occupied. Through undertaking research, and through
writing to owners, we identified 104 homes that were recorded as empty, but
were actually occupied.
Whilst these interventions do not result in new homes that are available to
people to live in (as they were already occupied), they still have an impact as
they give a more accurate representation of the number of empty properties in
the city. This means that we (and the council) are able to better target homes
that are actually empty. It also means that the figure that is recorded for New
Homes Bonus is more accurate (and, most importantly, lower).
Support to the owner of a short-term empty home
During the year we also offered brief support to the owner of an empty home
that had not been empty for six months. This resulted in us preventing a
home from becoming long-term empty but is not counted here as our work
is focused on homes that are empty for six months or more.
We have not included either of the above statistics in the summary report as
they were not included in the previous years report.
Further information
If you have any questions about the information included in this report or
other questions about Empty Homes Doctor please contact Rob Greenland,
Co-director, Empty Homes Doctor rob@emptyhomesdoctor.org.uk, 0113
2009383.