A bold new strategy has been unveiled to reduce the number of empty homes in Portsmouth

The empty private residential strategy, encouraging people to work together as early as possible, will be presented at the decision meeting for Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for housing and tackling homelessness on Wednesday 10 December, and if approved will be in place until December 2030.

If a home is empty for more than six months it is classed as an empty property and nationally, empty homes increased by nearly a quarter between 2018 - 2023, while in Portsmouth, over the same period, the rise has been a more modest 1.2 per cent.

But, as previously reported by The News, there are currently around 950 empty homes in the city with nearly three quarters of these homes empty for less than two years.

There are many reasons for empty properties in the city, such as the owner moving overseas, passing away, receiving care away from home, or difficulty bringing the property to a suitable standard for sale or rent.

Portsmouth City Council has said that reusing empty homes boosts housing supply, supports affordable housing, improves neighbourhoods, and benefits owners financially through rental income or sales, while avoiding ongoing costs.

Cllr Darren Sanders, Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness said: "This strategy builds on our work to tackle homelessness, including allocating £31m over two years to buy homes for people that need temporary accommodation.

“We're committed to having affordable and high-quality housing available in our city. We know locals can get angry when they see homes empty for ages and, even though the rise in empty homes is lower in Portsmouth than elsewhere, we must do all we can to bring them back into use."

The draft strategy has four main aims, to support owners of empty homes to bring them back into use, to tackle issues empty homes can cause residents, such as pests or seriously overgrown gardens, to work in a more joined up way across the council, and to contact owners as soon as possible to reduce the amount of homes that become empty long term.

By working together, the council hopes to make dealing with empty properties a shared responsibility that will lead to more homes available for those who need them, such as those local people on the housing register.

In July this year the council consulted with city residents as well as owners of empty properties in Portsmouth to make sure they were in favour of the proposed approach. A total of 805 responses were received, with 80 per cent of respondents agreeing with the aims of the strategy, and feedback.

Residents that are concerned about empty properties in their area or who want to bring their own property back into use can report an empty home using our online form, contact [email protected] or call 023 9260 6193.

The results of the consultation are published on the Your City Your Say webpage.