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Councils admit owning about 100 empty buildings

Edward RoweGloucestershire Political Reporter
News imageLocal Democracy Reporting Service Herbert, Kimberley and Philpotts warehouses pictured from across the river. They are large brick building which say "Herbert Warehouse" "Kimberley Warehouse" and "Philpotts Warehouse" on them. There is a large glass entrance between the Kimberley and Philpotts buildings and two canal boats can be seen on the water.Local Democracy Reporting Service
The Herbert, Kimberley and Philpotts warehouses cost Gloucester City Council £132,000 a year

About 100 buildings owned by councils in Gloucestershire are sitting vacant, according a BBC investigation.

The data was revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request and has led some to call for more to be done to tackle the issue, especially as empty buildings can cost councils thousands of pounds a year to maintain.

Gloucestershire County Council deputy leader Colin Hay admitted they have a number of empty properties but said many were "earmarked for regeneration or future development".

Despite a housing shortage, there is a total of more than 9,625 empty properties across Gloucestershire, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

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News imageA close up of a church building with stained glass windows. Some of the brick is bright and Cotswold yellow while other parts are really black. On the left hand side ivy is crawling up the building and is on one of the windows.
The old Spiritualist Church in Stroud was taken over by squatters a few years ago but is now occupied by the Night Angels

Gloucestershire County Council recently sold the old Stroud Library on Lansdown Road and got tenants for the Spiritualist Church next door.

The church had been taken over by squatters after being empty for a number of years but is now home to the Night Angels CIC.

Reform UK Gloucestershire County Councillor Piers Camp says keeping property is a waste of money.

"Any asset that's not being used for one purpose or another is a waste and really we should be doing much more about it," Mr Camp said.

Liberal Democrat Mr Hay said the council understands people's concerns and it does own a number of properties "that aren't in use".

He said: "Many of these [are] already earmarked for regeneration or future development.

"In other cases, buildings are being held temporarily while longer‑term plans are worked through, often linked to wider regeneration schemes or major infrastructure projects."

Selling assets can be difficult - Gloucester City Council is still struggling to sell the warehouses at the docks, which is costing £132,000 per year to maintain.

According to the councils website they have reached an agreement in principle with a buyer but no formal exchange of contracts will take place until planning permission is granted.

Getting buildings back into use

Some councils are selling their current empty stock and using the money to buy other long term empty homes to get them lived in again.

Stroud District Council has been going through a decade long programme, selling properties such as garages and small parcels of land to fund the policy.

"Clearly we don't want anything sitting around being made redundant," leader of Stroud District Council, Green Party's Chloe Turner said.

Dr Henrietta Blackmore, national director of Habitat for Humanity, wants more to be done to tackle empty properties which could help ease the housing crisis.

"The scale of the problem is so vast that we don't think that empty buildings are the only solution but they really are a fantastic part of an overall mixed solution to the problem."

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