Manchester City Council’s dedicated empty homes team has hit a key milestone after being set up in 2024 – managing to bring 500 long-term ‘void’ properties back into active use in less than two years.
The Empty Homes Team was created as part of the city’s response to the nationwide housing crisis to make sure as many existing homes in Manchester as possible are in use and can help meet demand for social rent Council housing and temporary accommodation.
Find more information about the Empty Homes Team in the notes to editors' section.
While the Council’s 2022 Housing Strategy has made a clear commitment to help build at least 10,000 social rent, Council and genuinely affordable homes up to 2032 – a target the city is on track to meet and exceed – any empty home represents a wasted resource that could be used to house a family or lessen the burden on homeless accommodation.
Although the number of empty homes has fallen by 53% since 2013 - an historic low for the city – around 1,500 properties remain classified as long-term voids after being empty for more than six months.
To continue to tackle the remaining tranche of empty homes, the vast majority of which are privately owned often with a complex history, the Council has recently completed a public consultation around a new empty homes strategy.
Consultation outcomes will be used to help shape the strategy and to make sure it works for the whole city. This will be reported back to a future meeting of the Council’s Executive; outlining how the Empty Homes Team will work with owners to bring homes back into use to increase the supply of homes available, retrofit properties to make them warmer and more sustainable, while targeting problem properties that cause issues in our communities.
Home transformed in Moston for homeless families
A home that was uninhabitable in Moston following a fire has now been brought back into use to support families in need of temporary accommodation.
Derelict for several years, the property was becoming a blight in the community with boarded up windows and potentially hazardous exterior walls - and had also begun to cause damp problems in neighbouring properties.
The former owner, facing costly repairs and unsure what to do with the property, was supported by the Council’s empty homes team, linking them with an approved buyer with experience of renovating empty properties.
The fully renovated home has now been offered by the new owner to the Council’s 10-year leasing programme providing a high-quality home for families facing homelessness – helping to meeting high demand and reducing the cost burden to the Council for expensive homeless accommodation.
Find out more about the help of offer to bring empty homes back into use
Find out more about the Council’s ambitious housing strategy
Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said:
“Every empty home is a missed opportunity and a wasted resource. These are properties that could create safe and secure accommodation for Manchester residents. Our team is making brilliant progress and to bring 500 homes back into use in only two years is a major achievement – and a statement of intent that we are serious about tackling this issue, not only providing great homes for our families, but also improving streets by addressing problem properties to make sure our communities are places our residents can be proud of.”
Cllr Joanna Midgley, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said:
“Councils across the country are absorbing the huge costs associated with temporary accommodation and supporting some of the city’s most vulnerable people and families. We know it’s unsustainable, which is why we are working directly with property owners to bring empty homes back into use, increasing access to quality accommodation that provides much-needed respite and comfort to those in our city that need it most. This is a great outcome for Manchester families at risk of homelessness, and it’s a great outcome for Moston.”