Empty homes

A distinguished peer with a long career in local government has pointed out that the situation highlighted by Vince Cable is more complicated than it seems at first sight. The use of Empty Dwelling Management Orders was made more difficult by Eric Pickles in 2012, extending the period in which a property must lie empty before an EDMO can be considered from six to twenty-four months. In any case, EDMOs were always seen as a back-up power to be used as a last resort. Central government intended that local authorities should initiate dialogue with property owners in order to bring unoccupied dwellings back into use. (There is more in this parliamentary briefing.)

I take the point, but it seems to me that Liberal Democrats are right to press for strengthening EDMO powers again. In particular, six months may have been too short a qualifying period, but two years is surely too long. Besides, the survey cited in the party's bulletin shows that the power of persuasion does not seem to be working too well. In Wales as a whole over 1100  homes have been empty for ten years or more. Some LAs have not contributed to the survey, so the figure may well be much larger. I am all for persuasion rather than the big stick, but it would do no harm for councils to show that they are willing to wield the latter if negotiation fails.