Empty Homes in Haringey

Due to a housing shortage in the borough, Haringey has a policy of encouraging owners of empty homes to bring them back into use. The Council would prefer it if owners did this themselves and grants are sometimes available to help with renovation costs.

• Consequences of leaving your home empty
• Squatters
• What action will the council take?
  • Compulsory Purchase
  • Forcing the sale of your home
• Reporting an empty home

Consequences of leaving your home empty

Leaving your property empty means it can fall into disrepair, attract vandalism, crime and rubbish dumping. You also lose out financially as you do not receive rental income, have increased insurance premiums and you have to pay full Council Tax.

Squatters

Squatting has recently become a very serious problem in London. Haringey has seen a rise in squatted properties, with empty homes being an attractive easy source of accommodation. It is not the responsibility of Haringey Council or the Police to evict squatters from your empty home. If your property becomes squatted, you may face a large repair bill as well as a bill for eviction through the Courts. There is an organised squatters network operating which provides potential squatters with information on how to look for empty homes and how to break into them. Addresses of properties are available for those wishing to find a squat.

The best way to avoid having your property squatted is to make sure that it is occupied by legitimate paying tenants.

What action will the council take?

Long-term empty homes and those causing a nuisance will not be tolerated.

Haringey has an active enforcement programme for empty homes. Empty homes cause problems within neighbourhoods as they attract crime, vandalism and fly tipping often creating an eyesore within a road. Enforcement proceeding will be taken against owners if the Council have to intervene to clear properties of waste and or board empty homes to prevent access. Owners who persist in not bringing empty homes back into use will also be subject to the Council’s empty home enforcement procedure which may result in the Compulsory Purchase of a property.

Compulsory Purchase

Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) are used when there is no debt on the property but where the Council can satisfy the Secretary of State that the owner has made no attempt to bring their property back into use themselves.

Haringey Council currently has 22 properties that Council Cabinet has approved for CPO and 4 of these have had to be sent to the Secretary of State for confirmation of the CPO. These properties have been taken possession of by Haringey and sold onto either Housing Associations or sold on the open market to people who are in the process of renovating them to be occupied once again.

Forcing the sale of your home

Enforced Sale is used where there is an outstanding debt on the property either through unpaid Council Tax or where the Council has carried out work in default after Statutory Notices have not been complied with. The Council applies to the Court for an Order of Sale and if the debt goes unpaid, this is granted. These properties are then taken possession of using a bailiff and they then go to auction.

Reporting an empty home

If you would like to report an empty home in your neighbourhood you can do so by emailing empty.properties@haringey.gov.uk

Further information

For further information please contact:

Senior Environmental Health Officer on 020 8489 5252.