THE COUNCIL brought 43 long-term empty homes in Merthyr Tydfil back into use over the last financial year.
Figures from a cabinet report on the council’s empty homes strategy show that 43 out of 540 (8%) long term empty properties in the county borough were brought back into use through direct action from the council in 2024-25.
The aim of the strategy which covers 2022 to 2026 is to bring 7% of empty properties back into use each year and the specific target within the strategy is to bring a further 200 empty properties back into use.
In 2023-24 a total of 39 of 529 (7.37%) long-term properties were brought back into use via direct council action and the figure for 2022-23 was 41 out of 582 (7.04%).
The report says the council is making “good progress” in towards achieving the aim of the strategy and has updated its action plan around bringing long-term empty homes – defined as those left vacant for more than six months – back into use.
The strategy emphasises that there are several ways in which council officers can bring empty homes back into use which come under four main categories: engagement, advice and assistance, financial assistance and support, and enforcement action.
Some of the actions the council is taking include setting up an officer-led steering group, re-drafting and launching of the council web page with information relating to empty homes into one easily found page, a communication plan which includes monthly social media posts in relation to subjects associated with the strategy, and providing contact details of registered social landlords who have indicated they would consider purchase/leasing empty homes on the empty homes web page.
The council is also writing to all owners of empty properties every other year to engage and offer support to bring properties back into use but the updated action plan includes contacting owners on an annual basis. The council has carried out a risk assessment of all empty properties that have been empty for more than 10 years and has participated in the national empty homes grant scheme which has brought 11 properties back into use.
It has also participated in property improvement loan schemes and it has introduced council tax premiums on empty properties.
Where engagement, advice, financial assistance and support have failed to bring properties back into beneficial use enforcement may be the only tool left, the report said.
The strategy includes “priority scoring” for the most problematic empty homes based on a set of factors that takes into consideration the risk of leaving the home empty.
Following a risk assessment in December 2024 six properties empty for more than 10 years were considered to be high-risk.
