Calls for more to be done to tackle empty council homes in Sheffield

The motion from Cllr Sophie Thornton (and seconded by her colleague, Cllr Mike Levery) said that in Sheffield currently there are 1,317 homes which have been empty for one or two years with 973 being subject to the long-term empty premium to council tax (LTEP).

Among the main reasons the numbers are so high, the motion added, could be “complex circumstances” such as bereavement, declining or ill health, diminished capacity, a building’s listed status and delays in planning permission.

Cllr Thornton’s motion is calling on the council to acknowledge “the housing crisis requires urgency and a strategic approach to prevent wasted property”.

If the council accepts the motion, some of the solutions raised by Cllr Thornton – for example, requesting the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee investigate ways to increase council tax on empty or second homes, or asking the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee to investigate ways to tackle unnecessary delays in obtaining planning permission in the city – may be implemented.

At the last full council meeting in 2023, Cllr Douglas Johnson, the chair of the Housing Policy Committee, was asked a series of questions about council homes.

In a written response he told members that as of November 27, there had been 947 empty council properties in Sheffield – and if those houses unavailable for letting were excluded, the number of vacant properties would stand at 761.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there were a mixture of reasons for this, including repairs.

Cllr Johnson said: “The simple answer is because the council has so many houses – nearly 39,000 houses.

“You’re always going to get some (empty properties) because people move in and out of houses, it is to be expected that you have some that are empty.

“Of course, when people move out houses have to be fixed up (one of the problems was about houses being let without being at a suitable standard because they were let quickly).

“They get brought in to repair and then you’ve got a process, of course.

“Quite a lot of that 974 properties are actually being taken out of the system because the large number of flats under Park Hill which are technically owned by the council still it’s part of the Urban Splash development.

“It’s a mixture of things when you look at the total number of that.”

Earlier this month, community union ACORN launched a campaign to introduce a 100 per cent increase in Council Tax to raise council tax on homes that are left empty for more than 12 months in Sheffield.

The motion will be discussed next Wednesday (February 7) at the town hall.