Tony McNulty

Local councils could take control of empty private homes to house homeless people, under new proposals unveiled by ministers.

Housing minister Tony McNulty said he was determined to tackle the problem of 300,000 long-standing empty homes across the country.

A consultation paper published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister suggests that councils could lease empty properties to people in need of homes and return them to their owner at an agreed time and in good condition.

"Empty homes blight communities. They are a magnet for vandals and tie up the resources of local authorities and the emergency services," said McNulty.

"Bringing them back into use will provide much-needed housing and reduce the impact of development on urban fringes and the countryside.

"Everybody wins because this policy targets wasting assets, making them useful again for those who need them most.

"These proposals have absolutely nothing to do with second homes or holiday homes, which are not empty in the sense of being void, abandoned or unused."

The document proposes that local authorities will take temporary management of empty homes in "defined circumstances".

Leasing can work extremely well where a property needs to be renovated before it can be re-used, said McNulty.

He added that there could be a need for further action to allow councils to acquire a property even where the owner is unwilling to co-operate.

The consultation paper sets out four options for tackling the problem of empty homes.

• Option 1 - the status quo - leasing of empty homes to remain a voluntary option for owners to consider in lieu of enforcement action under existing powers.

• Option 2 - a power for local authorities to take temporary management control of empty homes that are in a dilapidated condition.

• Option 3 - a power for local authorities to take temporary management control of empty homes where they can justify this in order to meet an identified housing need in the local area.

• Option 4 - a power for local authorities to take temporary management control of empty homes that are in a dilapidated condition and where management would meet an identified housing need.

There would be guarantees that councils could not take control of second homes, commercial property or transactional vacant dwellings.

Local authorities would also have to demonstrate that the property had been vacant for a specified period of time and they had made reasonable attempts to secure voluntary re-occupation.