Pictured in the former Beacon Church, Dover are: Steve Grimshaw from KCC; one of the Directors of Beacon Church Limited, Mr Sunil Popat; Tracy Pritchard from DDC Housing Improvement; and KCC/DDC Councillor, Cllr Derek Murphy
As Empty Homes Week gets underway (28 February to 5 March), Dover District Council and Kent County Council’s No Use Empty (NUE) initiative continue to celebrate success as they work together to address empty properties in the district.
Under the initiative, 543 long term empty properties in the Dover District have been brought back into use since 2005, and NUE Loans of around £10.9m have been made, including Top Ups.
DDC were one of the founding partners of No Use Empty, and in 2018 introduced ‘Top Up’ Loans to help tackle some of the larger empty properties in designated areas of regeneration which need extra financial support. The loans are administered by the NUE team at KCC on a recyclable basis.
Recent success stories, supported by NUE, include:
- 1 East Cliff, Dover - an end of terrace Grade 2 listed house, set within a conservation area, constructed around 1830-40 with a later added 19th century veranda. It is a prominent building on Dover seafront but was in need of an overhaul. Planning permission was granted for 6 self-contained flats.
- The Beacon Church, London Road, Dover – the property is a former church, built around 1901 that had fallen into disrepair. Planning permission was granted in 2017 for the conversion of the church into five two bedroom flats and four one bedroom flats.
Cllr Derek Murphy, DDC Cabinet Member for Housing and KCC Cabinet Member for Economic Development, said: “Empty Homes Week allows us to promote the good work to bring empty properties back into use in Dover district and the wider county. In addition to the funds NUE already administers, KCC has secured a further £2.5m from the Growing Places Funds (GPF) to pump into the NUE scheme to make more short term secured loans available to bring even more empty properties back into use.”
Steve Grimshaw, KCC Strategic Programme Manager, said: “There is real enthusiasm from those local developers who are accessing the scheme to borrow short-term finance to bring those derelict sites into use for brand new homes. The extra funding will further support the Kent economy as well as allowing us to regenerate local communities.”
For more information, please see the NUE website at www.no-use-empty.org.uk
NOTES:
Firmly established as the longest running empty property initiative in the country (2005), No Use Empty (NUE) remains committed to reducing long term empty dwellings that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for over six months.
Delivered by KCC in partnership with all 12 district councils and Medway Council (since 2021), NUE provides an exemplar model which can be replicated offering financial assistance alongside advice and guidance. The scheme’s co-ordinated approach has returned 7,256 empty homes back into use through a range of interventions, including short term secured loans to provide good quality housing.
Contacts for KCC/NUE -
Steve Grimshaw, Strategic Programme Manager – email steve.grimshaw@kent.gov.uk, tel 03000 417084
Jake Body, Project Support Officer – email jake.body@kent.gov.uk, tel 03000 417442
Posted on 28 February 2022