FOI request (FOIR-311968882)

Vacant properties

Requested Mon 01 March 2021
Responded Wed 17 March 2021

1. As of 26th February 2021 (or the most recently available date), please could you tell me how many private and council homes have been vacant in your authority for the following numbers of financial years*:

a. Less than one year (that is, the current financial year)

b. One year

c. Two years

d. Three years

e. Four years

f. Five years

g. Six years

h. Seven years

i. Eight years

j. Nine years

k. Ten years

l. 11 - 19 years

m. 20 or more years<

*Please treat 'years' as financial years. If a home has been listed as empty within the current financial year, I would expect this to be listed as 'less than one year'.

Please could you break this information down by:

Column a) The 'number of years'

Column b) 'Private' or 'council' home - a separate count for private, and council, if available

Column c) The number of vacant homes

2) For the last five financial years (2016/2017 - 2020/2021), please can you tell me how many homes that had been vacant for two or more years were demolished in your authority?

Please could you break this information down by:

Column a) The financial year

Column b) The number of homes demolished

3) For the last five financial years (2016/2017 - 2020/2021), please can you tell me how many reports related to squatting in a council-owned vacant property you have received?

Please could you break this information down by:

Column a) The financial year

Column b) The number of reports related to squatting

4) For the last five financial years (2016/2017 - 2020/2021) how much money has your council raised from charging extra council tax on homes that have been vacant for two or more years?

Please could you break this information down by:

Column a) The year

Column b) The amount raised via council tax paid on vacant dwellings

If time or cost restraints are an issue with this request, please can you prioritise the questions in this order: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Response

Hastings Borough Council (HBC) only has 'temporary accommodation' properties and doesn't own any 'private' or 'council homes'. The Council's social housing stock (council homes) were transferred to 1066 Housing Association (now Optivo) in 1996 as part of a Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT).

Q1 and Q2. Please see attached document provided by our council tax team.

Q3. None of our temporary accommodation properties have had squatters in them. HBC holds no information in respect of other properties listed in the attached document.

Q4. Information not held

Attachments

• FOIR-311968882_FOIR-311968882_1-FOI_-_311968882_-_Vacant_Properties.xlsx