The artwork of five Blaenau Ffestiniog youngsters will be used by Gwynedd Council to support a campaign to tackle empty houses in the county.
As part of its campaign to bring empty houses throughout the county back into use, Gwynedd Council’s empty homes team is launching an awareness-raising campaign and an information pack has been produced to highlight the problem. Due to the high number of empty properties in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area, local primary school pupils were invited to draw pictures to be included within the campaigning literature.
Councillor Trefor Edwards, Gwynedd Council’s Housing Portfolio Leader said:
“By bringing empty homes back into use, we can deliver additional housing opportunities for local people. Owners can be eligible for grant support to help bring their properties up to the necessary standard, and a number of houses have already been renovated but we are always keen to see more homes being made available.
“That is why we have been working closely with young people on this important campaign. The response from the young people in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area has been fantastic, and their work will form an important aspect of our campaign to turn empty houses into homes for local people.”
Five children from Ysgol Tanygrisiau and Ysgol Maenofferen were successful in winning a prize for their picture. Their artwork will be used as part of the awareness-raising campaign.
Elliw Perkins from Gwynedd Council’s Empty Homes Service added:
“In a society where thousands of households are empty and hundreds of thousands of prospective tenants are waiting for rented accommodation, empty properties, quite simply, are a wasted resource. That is why the Council believes that making use of the empty houses within the county is an excellent option to help find homes for Gwynedd residents.
“By raising awareness of the need to bring empty houses back into use, we hope to deliver a significant number of properties back into use. The fantastic artwork produced by the pupils from the Blaenau Ffestiniog area will play a key role in drawing attention to this important issue and we thank every one of the pupils who took part.”
By focusing on empty properties unoccupied for more than six months the aim of the initiative is to encourage the owners of empty houses to reuse their property to create quality housing accommodation. Gwynedd Council has developed a range of flexible options which can help empty property owners make the most of their property which include advice and information, leasing schemes and empty dwelling grants.
For further information about the scheme, or to report an empty home in your area, contact Gwynedd Council’s Empty Homes team on 01758 704127 or email: [email protected]
