Councillors say 'every avenue' must be explored to stamp out empty properties problem in Sunderland

It comes after a recent Sunderland City Council meeting heard there were a total of 2,759 empty homes across the region as of March 2023, compared to a total of 3,305 in December 2019.

Although councillors have welcomed the decrease in vacant units, calls were made to continue taking action to do more.

Officers at the latest meeting of the economic prosperity scrutiny committee said they were moving “in the right direction” but agreed there are “an awful lot of empty properties” which they are working hard on bringing back into use.

Conservative councillor Michael Dixon, who sits on the committee, following further discussions on the issue with councillors in the east of the city, raised the idea of getting “responsible” private landlords more involved.

He said: “In the past I have been approached by very good, responsible, private landlords who were interested in buying empty properties.

“I am now asking for this to be taken further with a register created initially of say 10-12 private landlords experienced in this type of property and what work it entails, who would, on a regular basis be informed of any properties that were empty.

“If there is agreement by the owner that their contact details can be shared then negotiations to purchase could commence.”

He added he raised the idea with officers as part of discussions, and stressed “every avenue must be explored to rid us of this blight of empty properties in our housing stock”.

Cllr Dixon continued: “Trying to get empty properties back into occupation is a hard and complicated task for the council’s housing officers.

“Private landlords, many from out of the area, do the city no favours with the neglectful maintenance and management of properties in their ownership that have been empty for months and years.”

Council chiefs stressed plans are in place to continue clamping down on empty homes and helping to bring sites back into use, which includes working with responsible landlords

Labour councillor Kevin Johnston, dynamic city cabinet member, said: “We have a strategy to proactively tackle empty homes, and we are seeing the impact of this already, with a significant reduction in the homes left unused across the city.

“While so many of our residents need appropriate accommodation, it is just wrong that homes, that could support them, stand unoccupied and we are determined to do all we can to tackle this issue.

“We want to see buildings brought back into use as soon after they become vacant as possible, and by working with landlords, as well as by taking on some properties ourselves, we are stamping out a problem that we know our residents want to see addressed.”

Joint working also takes place within the council to investigate, and when necessary, serve improvement notices and enforce under legislation, the meeting heard, however officers warned legal action can be a challenging and time consuming process.