More than 700 homes in Bath & North East Somerset have been sitting vacant for at least six months.

Some 200 of them have been unoccupied for more than two years – and the worst two cases have been empty since 1994. 

The empty properties are a valuable resource, but they can devalue neighbouring homes and can be a magnet for antisocial behaviour and crime. 

B&NES Council has some powers to bring them back into use. It can draw up action plans, offer incentives to owners to revitalise their properties and, if the situation calls for it, can carry out a compulsory purchase. 

The authority forced the sale of 10 Wellington Buildings in 2017, paying £217,500 for a home that is now back in use.

A Freedom of Information Act request showed that as of May 8th, there were 763 properties across the area that had been empty for six months or more. There are currently two properties on the council’s long-term empty active cases list that have been empty since 1994. A property empty since 1997 came back into use earlier this year.

Stephen Sumner, LDRS