Empty homes in Charlbury

Thu 21 Mar 2019, 16:08

There is to be a change in the way WODC tax empty homes from 1st April.  At present the council tax is half the normal on empty homes but it will rise to the full tax, then in 2020 it will be double the tax and treble in 2021 on houses empty for more than 5 years.

Perhaps this will help the situation given the current level of the charge.

Wed 20 Mar 2019, 15:15

Not 'Strictly Charlbury' but to put this in a wider context, the Observer recently reported (so it must be true!) that more than £100bn of property in England & Wales is secretly owned with at least 87,000 properties 'owned by anonymous companies registered in tax havens'.  Forty per cent of the properties are in London - which means 60% aren't....

Wed 20 Mar 2019, 10:50 (last edited on Wed 20 Mar 2019, 10:55)

Vicky, you have hit the nail on the head - we do know who owns the house, and their situation, but personal circumstances are not something for discussion on this forum and I suggest that with your wise words this discussion is now closed down.

Wed 20 Mar 2019, 10:24

I don't know this house or any of the people involved. What I do know, is that there really aren't very many people in this world that are actually inactive due to pure malice or lack of care. May I dare suggest that the legal owner of this property may not be ignoring all contact regarding it, due to incapacity or the contact details are not up to date? 

Perhaps somebody actually knows this person and could ascertain what the reality of this particular situation is. Maybe the  owner is not aware of how much the home has deteriorated? 

Tue 19 Mar 2019, 21:31

I apologise for my frustration but very little has been done regarding the situation on The Green and there has been no progress for many months. There appears no solution or even any action towards any hope of one, so discussing other irrelevant schemes is very unhelpful for those of us directly affected over many years.

Tue 19 Mar 2019, 21:18

I think you are being a bit harsh Maggie. Liz (Leffman) was just mentioning that there is a scheme to help with unoccupied/neglected houses which unfortunately cannot be used in this case. I found her post of interest and not in the least political.

Tue 19 Mar 2019, 20:45

Liz, the house on The Green has a particular problem as there has been no co-operation from the owner. It is therefore irrelevant to mention in your reply a scheme which is not applicable to the specific situation I asked you about. You appear to be simply trying to curry favour with the electorate.

Mon 18 Mar 2019, 08:50 (last edited on Mon 18 Mar 2019, 08:55)

Maggie, I am not sure what you mean?  I provided you with the information that you asked for,  about what WODC has done about the house on The Green. I didn't mention any schemes other than the new one set up by WODC to take over empty houses.  As this was put in place by the Conservative administration, and I agree with what they are doing in this case, I don't think this is about my politics!

Mon 18 Mar 2019, 00:04

Liz Leffman, Regarding the abandoned house on The Green. It is really unhelpful to mention schemes that are not applicable when you reply. This is not a matter for your politics.

Sat 16 Mar 2019, 15:42

Could always try this......LA power to take empty homes into management. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/empty-dwelling-management-orders-guidance

Sat 16 Mar 2019, 12:51

"It requires the owner's consent or at least co-operation".  Doomed to fail then.  If the owner were willing to cooperate, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now. Legal action needs to be taken against him and a court order used to resolve this situation.

Fri 15 Mar 2019, 19:26

I've contacted WODC about the house on The Green.  I have been promised a response.  I've said that I will carry on pursuing this until the problem is solved.  I welcome all offers of help.

Wed 13 Mar 2019, 18:59 (last edited on Wed 13 Mar 2019, 19:08)

WODC enforcement officers have been involved in trying to get the owner to tidy up the garden, particularly trees whose roots are causing problems for neighbours, and sort out the house, but  to little effect because the owner ignores any attempt to contact him. WODC hav recently set up a scheme for taking over empty houses from owners, refurbishing and renting them, but this was only intoduced a couple of moths ago and it requires the owner's consent or at least co-operation.

Wed 13 Mar 2019, 17:32

Hi Liz, please could you provide actual details of what practical attempts have been made to “rectify” the situation with the empty house on The Green. 

Wed 13 Mar 2019, 15:00

WODC are aware of the need to use empty homes as art of the newly adopted homelessness strategy - but as has rightly been pointed out there is a big difference between second homes that are not often used, or holiday homes, and genuinely empty properties.  WODC has a list of those homes that are genuinely unoccupied. The one on The Green has been empty for years and there have been various attempts to get that rectified.

Wed 13 Mar 2019, 10:12 (last edited on Wed 13 Mar 2019, 10:14)

 Thanks, Liz for the informative post and for pledging to raise this with the WODC. In order for Charlbury to continue to be a genuine, thriving and dynamic community it is important that it be a diverse and inclusive one and in order for that to be the case it needs to be a fairer one. My own observation, as a relatively recent incomer, is that the needs of the wider community seem to be being compromised in favour of turning Charlbury into a glossy, sanitised Country Life idyll of a Cotswold town getaway rather than a real place for real people. 

Huw, I'd suggest that as a society we should be more concerned about the 'marginalization' of those that do not own a single home, or even those who do not have a home at all, rather than those who own two or more. I am not against second homes in principle, or for that matter second home owners, but I do believe that good social planning with an eye to social justice is essential in ensuring the future longevity of rural communities like Charlbury. 

Wed 13 Mar 2019, 08:47

I think we should take care not to confuse second homes with empty homes.  There have been many reports of houses being bought by overseas investors and kept empty.  Particularly in the last 2.5 years since the devaluation of the £ has resulted in houses appearing 10-15% cheaper.  They are investments and they are being built as investments not to solve the housing crisis.  A sorry state indeed.   

Tue 12 Mar 2019, 23:27 (last edited on Tue 12 Mar 2019, 23:31)

A long (informative) post by Liz.  Whilst legislation exists to deal with “abandoned” homes, it is an expensive and lengthy process for any Local Authority to progress. I am not aware of more than three properties in Charlbury that could be deemed as abandoned, Indeed  one of those is owned by a Lady who is terminally ill and in no position to rectify the siuation. Whilst people might not like the concept of second homes, it does not necessarilly mean that the owners don’t care about the community or contribute to it.  I would much prefer to read posts about Charlbury being a caring and inclusive community, not one that seeks to marginalise those who own second homes.

Tue 12 Mar 2019, 21:46

The OCSI data updated in 2018 tells us that 5.6% of housing in Charlbury & Finstock is vacant compared with 4.2% in Oxfordshire and 4.3% in England.  I see that West Oxfordshire already charge owners of empty properties 150% of the council tax charge if a property is left empty for over 2 years.  But if you've paid a few million £'s for a house the sanction of paying £5,358 a year for council tax probably feels like a minor irritation.

Tue 12 Mar 2019, 09:59

It is the same in many parts of the country. I grew up in the Lizard/Lands End area of Cornwall very close to Helford Village which in the 1950's was pretty well locally owned.  To day I am told that only 3/4 true locals live there and fewer than 20% of the houses are occupied thro' the year.  St Ives - another town I knew well I understand has introduced some kind of local legislation to prevent "them emmots from up-country" from having second homes and leaving them empty for months at a time.

What does it do to Council Tax collection?

Tue 12 Mar 2019, 08:51 (last edited on Tue 12 Mar 2019, 09:25)

I'm going to contact WODC this morning.  My attention has been brought yet again to a house on The Green which has been allowed to deteriorate into a dangerous condition.

Two contradictory pieces of info on the net.

"The Empty Homes Premium
The Local Government Finance Act 2012 received Royal…

Long post - click to read full text

Mon 11 Mar 2019, 19:01

I have noticed a big change in th town since I started knocking on doors back in 2005.  Then, there were virtually no second homes in the town, but now there are a lot more, many of which are empty for most of the year.

Mon 11 Mar 2019, 18:11

I remember when I moved to Charlbury in 1995 that there were two empty houses more or less opposite The Three Horseshoes (but a bit further up the hill). They really looked almost verging on derelict, and seeing them like that used to make me sad. In fact I mentioned it at the Town Meeting ... there was a rumour that the owner(s) lived in the USA. I don't know what happened - maybe someone had a word with someone - but it seemed to stir something, and within six months or so those two houses had been done up and loved again! 

Mon 11 Mar 2019, 17:10

Not just Charlbury, but here in Fawler too. A beautiful 4-bed family home with separate garage and studio, bought and extensively renovated as an investment, left empty in the long-term- presumably the owners don't need the rental income. Very sad when demand for homes is so high.

Mon 11 Mar 2019, 16:51

It is great pity because my artist husband and I are looking for a property with minimum of 3 bedrooms plus a space for him to work would be a bonus, we need araond 2300sq ft and a garage, we have visited the town and local villages on several occasions and love the friendly feel, it is our desire to take part in an active community. Our current property has just been launched on the market.

If anyone is considering selling in the near future we would very much like to hear from you. We will of course respect your privacy in all matters.

Contact :- Lin & Chris 01295 788840 linckchick@gmail.com

Mon 11 Mar 2019, 15:09

I didn't know about this in Charlbury. I'd noticed the trend in Witney's West End.  Presumably people/institutions buy such properties as a long term investment? You'd think it was high time there was legislation against owning unoccupied property long-term unless you are renovating it. Just immoral.

Sun 10 Mar 2019, 20:46

Wrong and weird 

Sun 10 Mar 2019, 18:05

I do wonder at the way in which houses in Charlbury can be bought - at great expense - and then left empty for years.  It feels wrong.