Representatives from councils and housing organisations from across Wales, will meet today to discuss how bringing empty homes back into use will help meet the growing need for housing.
Organised by the WLGA, the ‘Wales’ Empty Homes’ conference coincides with the publication of an evaluation report on Wales’ flagship ‘Houses into Homes’ scheme.
Launched with the objective of bringing 5,000 empty properties back into use by 2016, ‘Houses into Homes’ is a joint initiative between Welsh Government and local councils. The £20m recyclable loans scheme helps to bring privately owned empty houses or commercial buildings back into use as homes for rent or sale.
Speaking at the conference, Councillor Dyfed Edwards (Gwynedd), WLGA spokesperson for Housing said:
“One of the most significant challenges we face in Wales is how to meet the demand for good quality affordable housing. Every year the gap between housing need and housing supply gets wider, and while we know that part of the solution will be to build new homes, we must not overlook the importance of making the most of what is already available by bringing homes that are standing empty back into use.
“Recent data suggests the number of empty homes in Wales is on the increase, with estimates suggesting that while there were 18,980 empty homes in Wales in 2010, this figure rose to 23,287 in 2012. Local councils have been working hard to tackle this increase in empty homes as part of their housing renewal work, and the ‘Houses into Homes’ scheme has provided a much needed £20m boost to help drive this work forward. It has also provided the foundations for local councils to work together in order to tackle this problem at a regional level.
“This event offers a hugely important opportunity for us to plan how we can build on the very successful work over the past year and continue to turn empty properties into much needed homes.”
