Empty Homes
The District Council feel that empty homes represent a wasted resource for owners who could otherwise benefit by letting or selling them to households in need of housing. Occasionally, this may also affect the community who may be affected by the physical decline of an empty property. The Council is committed to making the best use of resources to meet local housing need and bringing empty homes back into use forms part of our strategic approach to housing. The Council has formulated a strategy to deal with this issue, which you can download under the "Empty Homes Interventions" link on the right.
Where appropriate, Huntingdonshire District Council engages with owners and works with them in order to bring empty homes back into use. Although the problem of empty property is an issue across all parts of England, there are considerable regional variations. In Huntingdonshire empty homes do not present a significant problem; empty homes are relatively low in the district, representing only 0.75% of the housing stock (compared to 2.4% in the Eastern Region, and 1.3% in England). It is estimated there are around 500 long term empty homes in the district, although this number has been falling in recent years.
If you wish to inform us of a property that has been empty for a considerable period of time please use the "Report a Vacancy or Derelict Property" link on the right of this page. Please note that the Council's powers in this area are limited and whilst we are happy to be made aware of empty properties, the resources needed to tackle these are limited.