THERE are 7,500 homes lying empty in Liverpool. Now Government-backed loans are being offered to their owners in a bid to bring some of them back into use. 

The city council has signed up to to the The National Empty Homes Loan Fund. Launched today, with a grant of £3 million from central government, the fund aims to reduce the problem of England’s 710,000 vacant residential properties. 

Liverpool is one of 39 local authorities selected to be part of the scheme led by the charity Empty Homes, in partnership with the Government and the Ecology Building Society. 

Cycle

Owners of empty homes in the city will be able to apply for loans of up to £15,000 to help bring their properties back into affordable use. 

Currently, the council says, owners of empty homes are often unable to access funds to bring them back into use, creating a vicious cycle of decline in areas with high numbers of empty properties.  

NEHLF will provide access to secured loans at a fixed 5 percent interest rate, and will enable owners to renovate the property to Decent Homes standard. 

The scheme has been funded and is being administered by Ecology Building Society, a specialist mortgage lender that supports sustainable communities. It is available to individuals aged 18 and over who own a property that has been empty for six months or more.  

David Ireland OBE, Chief Executive of Empty Homes, said: “We hope the fund will enable hundreds of empty homes to be brought back up to standard and back into the housing stock.” 

The council says its housing team has drawn up a hit-list of the top 1,000 empty homes in the city, and is now taking firm action. Owners are being encouraged to bring their properties back into use as quickly as possible, and are being informed that “enforcement action” will be taken if they don't. 

£1

Liverpool has also secured £14 million in Government Clusters of Empty Homes Funding, which is being used to revitalise hundreds of properties. 

Meanwhile, the successful applicants of the Homes For A Pound scheme - which saw the council sell off 20 properties for £1 in the Granby and Picton areas of Liverpool - are due to be announced in the near future. More than 1,000 people applied. 

Full details of the National Empty Homes Loan Fund can be found here