Memorandum by Birmingham City Council
(EMP 45)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Birmingham and Sandwell Pathfinder
(Urban Living) received ODPM funding approval last June. The Pathfinder
comprises the north-western segment of the City and that of east
Sandwell. The area displays many characteristics similar to the
other pathfinders where poor housing, environmental, social and
economic factors have led to risk of market failure or market
collapse. The scale of empty homes within the Pathfinder when
compared to the rest of the City was one of a number of underpinning
key drivers that led to BCC and SMBC seeking Pathfinder status.
The City Council therefore very much welcomes the opportunity
afforded by the Pathfinder to address the specific issues relating
to empty homes as it starts the process of market restructuring.
1.2 Although rapid progress is being made
on many fronts, it is perhaps too early in the potential 15 year
time frame of the Pathfinder to make any real assessments of the
impact of the Pathfinder programme on specifically tackling privately
owned empty homes in the area. This is principally due to the
fact that a number of projects specifically targeted towards this
initiative are just about to be realised on site. Nevertheless
based on our understanding of the situation it is possible to
make the following contribution to the Inquiry.
2. SCOPE AND
SCALE
2.1 There are approximately 37,500 properties
in the Birmingham portion of the Pathfinder. 49% of the properties
are owner occupied, compared to the 60% figure for Birmingham
and Sandwell as a whole. Property vacancy levels in the area stood
at 5.1% in 2001, compared to 3.2% for the City. The level of empty
privately owned properties in the area is more than double the
City average and is an outcome of dysfunctional market. The level
of vacancies in this sector would be even higher were it not for
the large number of properties occupied by refugees and asylum
seekers under NASS contracts. Empty properties in north-west Birmingham
are distributed through out the area, and whilst there are no
large areas of abandonment as evident in some northern towns and
cities, significant clusters of vacant properties exist in many
neighbourhoods.
2.2 Clearly there are specific issues relating
to the high rate of privately owned void homes in north-west Birmingham
and consequently the City Council has dedicated an empty properties
officer to deliver a programme of advice and enforcement action
to bring empty properties back into use. The initiative is dovetailed
with one of the strategic aims of Urban Living, namely, Neighbourhood
Stabilisation, where projects are being developed that will respond
to and anticipate housing market issues at the neighbourhood level.
These involve amongst others a number of Active Neighbourhood
pilots targeted on areas of greatest number of voids that aim
to stabilise the neighbourhoods by concerted action on both voids
and intensive neighbourhood management. It goes without saying
that such measures command both capital and revenue resources,
with experience already suggesting the need for the pathfinder
programmes to give due consideration to the necessary revenue
support for such initiatives to succeed.
3. COMMITMENT
AND CONTRIBUTIONS
3.1 The resources being made available by
ODPM to the pathfinders is recognition of the scale of the challenges
that lie ahead, and the pro-active approach being encouraged is
very welcome. It is also clear that for the pathfinders to succeed
a holistic and comprehensive approach must be taken towards regeneration
of such areas by aligning the pathfinder and local authority's
programmes with those of key agencies like the RDA; EP; Housing
Corporation; LSC. Whilst it is acknowledged that re-alignment
of strategies and more importantly the funding of the necessary
agencies will take a little time, it is encouraging to see their
active involvement in Urban Living structures and increasing commitment
to joint working on actually achieving delivery on the ground.
4. DEVELOPMENT
OF STRATEGIES
4.1 Birmingham has a citywide empty property
strategy that is currently in the process of being reviewed. This
review is being informed by a MORI census of owners of empty properties
in Birmingham in order to establish why properties are kept empty
and what specific actions are needed to bring them back into use.
The results of this research will be stratified by Housing Market
Areas within the city, and will inform the future programmes of
tackling the issues within north-west Birmingham/Urban Living
as appropriate.
5. DISSEMINATION
OF GOOD
PRACTICE
5.1 The support and networking mechanisms
already developed around the pathfinders, for example, the Pathfinder
Policy Working Group (and the related sub-groups), York Conferences,
and pathfinder seminars offer ample opportunity for the exchange
of good practice. The role of the Audit Commission has also been
important in ensuring strategic learning across the pathfinder.
As the pathfinder movement gathers momentum there will be increasing
opportunities for practitioners to be sharing knowledge and more
importantly develop and test new approaches to tackling empty
homes as part of the wider Housing Market Renewal initiative.
5.2 Birmingham is also a member of both
the West Midlands Empty Property Forum and the National Association
of Empty Property Practitioners. Through these fora Birmingham
is able to share best practice and keep up to date with new initiatives.
6. COUNCIL'S
POWERS
6.1 The enforcement powers available to
local authorities to tackle empty properties: compulsory purchase,
empty dwelling management orders and enforced sale are useful
and powerful tools. The City has traditionally provided a reactive
service (through the Housing Enforcement Team) around empty properties
which includes tracing owners and if necessary boarding up properties.
Owners are given advice and encouragement about bringing their
property back into use through renovation and sale or letting.
Where an owner fails to bring a property back into use the Council
has powers of compulsory purchase (CP) and is able to take the
property into Council ownership for onward sale. However, the
inadequacies in the CP process (particularly timescales) have
meant limited exercising of this option.
6.2 In north-west Birmingham, where the
problem is most acute, the employment of a dedicated empty properties
officer means that a more pro-active approach can be taken by
using Council Tax data and instigating compulsory purchase, particularly
where concentration of empty properties can facilitate wider Urban
Living objectives. It will be important to see to what extent
the introduction of revised Planning CPO powers will expedite
matters. In the light of this and the potential changes stemming
from the Housing Bill 2003, it is perhaps too early to say whether
additional powers might be needed to tackle empty properties as
part of clearance and redevelopment schemes.
7. DEMOLITIONS
VS REFURBISHMENT
7.1 As part of its strategy to restructure
the local housing market Urban Living is seeking to achieve a
balanced approach towards clearance, redevelopment and refurbishment
within the Pathfinder area. It therefore cannot be assumed that
demolition of empty homes is automatically the way forward particularly
as they are well dispersed in north-west Birmingham. Proposed
actions will need to pay regard to property conditions and the
cost of refurbishment and redevelopment, the extent to which large
clusters of vacancies undermine the neighbourhoods, or whether
such properties sit within areas subject of redevelopment.
7.2 As part of "best course of action"
Birmingham/Urban Living is developing new initiatives to bring
privately owned empty properties back into use as affordable housing
through:
(a) Private Sector Leasing where an RSL will
take out a five year lease on an empty property, renovate it and
bring it back into use to house clients from the priority homeless
waiting list.
(b) Gap funding the purchase and renovation
of empty properties by RSLs, using commuted sums. Empty properties
purchased in this way will also be used to house clients from
the priority homeless waiting list within the area.
These schemes will not only bring refurbished
empty properties back into use, but will also increase the supply
of affordable housing and reduce the number of clients on the
priority homeless waiting list.
7.3 Once the framework for a private sector
leasing scheme is in place, Birmingham will be able to implement
the new Empty Dwelling Management Orders provided in the new Housing
Act. Under this provision owners will be compelled, where aid
and advice has failed, to lease their property to the Council
or an RSL, and the property will be used as affordable housing
for the period of the compulsory lease.
8. NECESSARY
SKILLS
8.1 The skills needed to tackle weak housing
markets are in essence no different to those required by many
other regeneration initiatives. However, given the sheer size,
scale and complexity of pathfinders there is immense demand for
people with both specialist and rounder regeneration skills in
precisely the areas currently experiencing national shortage in
both public and private sectors. However, the multi-disciplinary
and partnership approach adopted by Birmingham/ Urban Living means
that the best of the available talent can be sourced, although
increasing resources will need to be directed towards continued
development of existing staff and "growing our own".
9. MARKET RENEWAL
AND OTHER
STRATEGIES
9.1 Urban renaissance, low demand and restructuring
of housing markets is a priority investment theme for the Regional
Housing Strategy (RHS).
9.2 The RHS identifies areas at risk of
low or changing demand. Apart from the two HMR Pathfinders in
North West Birmingham/Sandwell and North Staffordshire the wider
significance of the theme is recognised in other parts of the
Black Country, East Birmingham/ North Solilhull and parts of Telford
being identified as at risk due to changing patterns of demand.
Crucially, the Strategy recognises the need for more than housing
interventions to address the complex issues presented, highlighting
the requirement to integrate housing, economic development and
regeneration interventions. Market restructuring is placed within
a context of economic and demographic change.
9.3 Birmingham's Draft Housing Strategy
complements the themes of the RHS. Addressing changing demand
is one of the priority themes of the strategy. Once again the
approach is to make pro-active interventions to prevent market
decline and to provide opportunities for economic growth. Empty
properties in the City are placed within the context of neighbourhoods.
In some locations they are a symptom of market decline (as with
Urban Living) whilst in other areas of high demand they provide
an opportunity to increase the supply of housing to meet need.
9.4 The strategy for Urban Living is informed
by and influencing both City Council's as well as strategies and
programmes of other statutory agencies and partners like the RDA,
EP, Housing Corporation and RSLs. Indeed as stated earlier there
is a strong working relationship between Urban Living, statutory
agencies and other partners. It is also expected that the spatial
planning frameworks rooted in the New Planning System will now
start to deal with the practicalities of delivering the necessary
physical changes for Housing Market Renewal.
10. INVOLVEMENT
OF THE
PRIVATE SECTOR
10.1 The strategy for Urban Living is governed
by market led regeneration of the area, where bulk of the investment
will be undertaken by the private sector. The early programmes
are very much geared towards providing the foundation for such
investment, eg through land assembly and development planning
programmes. It is envisaged that the physical transformation of
the area coupled with the complementary social and economic initiatives
and improvement in local services will lead to an increased popularity
of the area, and that these allied with enhanced community wealth
will become the drivers for the longer term sustainability of
the area. Increasing popularity should also lead to a natural
decline in empty homes in the area.
11. CONCLUSION
11.1 Birmingham is one of a number of key
drivers for Urban Living as it starts the process of restructuring
the local housing market and creating and tackling the scale of
privately owned empty homes in north-west conditions for longer
term investment, particularly from the private sector. Given the
distribution of empty homes within Urban Living a balanced approach
between clearance and refurbishment is being taken. However, both
approaches require significant capital and revenue resources targeted
at a local level, which in conjunction with other initiatives
will lay the foundations for achieving sustainable neighbourhoods.
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