Two-year delay on empty home CPOs

Councils will now have to wait two years before seizing back empty homes — but at the same time they are being urged by Government to do more to solve the problem blighting communities.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said he was ending the “heavy-handed rules” which meant people who leave their property vacant for more than six months could have it taken by the local authority.

But his department also wants councils to do more to tackle the problem.

Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) were introduced by the previousgovernment in 2006 to tackle the problem of thousands of empty homes across the country.

They allow local authorities to issue an order to take control of properties which have been empty for more than six months.

They may then charge market rates for rent and use the income to carry out repairs and refurbishments where necessary. In extreme cases, and as a last resort, councils may issue the ultimate sanction of a compulsory purchase order to take ownership of a property.

But the Coalition Government has extended the period to two years, saying it will allow families who have been left a property by a dead relative time to decide what to do with it.

Latest figures show the number of vacant properties across Oldham stands at 5,036.

Meanwhile, the Department for Communities and Local Government says it wants local residents to inform councils where pockets of empty homes are in the area in a bid to stop the problem escalating further.

Government says it will match the council tax raised for every empty property brought back into use which councils can spend as they wish.

Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell suggested the money could be used to offer counci-tax discounts to residents.