THE number of properties being left empty in one part of Somerset has fallen for the first time in three years.

In the past 12 months, West Somerset Council has seen a seven per cent drop in the number of empty homes being recorded in its district, based on the number of council tax bills.

However, the overall number remains higher than it was in 2015 – and the figure does not include the large number of second homes which people have purchased across the area.

The council has said it was making progress through direct negotiation with property owners to bring more properties back into use.

Members of the council’s scrutiny committee were updated on progress at a meeting in Williton on Thursday afternoon (October 18).

A property is classed at long-term empty if it has been vacant for at least six months. Second homes are not classed in this way by central government.

Empty homes co-ordinator Steven Perry – who also works for Taunton Deane Borough Council – said there were currently 223 empty properties across West Somerset.

This is below last year’s peak of 241, and lower than in 2016 when there were 224 – but it remains higher than the 202 such properties recorded in 2015.

Mr Perry said: “We have been working extremely hard to bring 18 homes back into use.

“When bringing an empty home back into use, it is far better to do it through negotiation between the officer and the owner of the property, rather than going through the enforcement process, as that can be really expensive.

Where enforcement is carried out, officers have a number of options available to them:

- they can force the property to be sold to recover debts against either the property or a person (which includes unpaid council tax)

- they can apply for a compulsory purchase order (CPO), which requires permission from the communities secretary

- they can use an empty dwelling management order (EDMO) to “secure occupation and responsible management” of privately owned dwellings

Mr Perry added: “Failure to add address empty homes can cause increased dereliction, vandalism, litter and other anti-social behaviour, as well as reduced market values in neighbouring properties, contributing to a spiral of decline.

“Bringing empty homes into use again provides greater housing choice,  improves or restores older buildings and homes to modern standards… and reduces the need to build new dwellings on greenfield sites.

“This is the first year that the increase in empty homes has stopped – it has just been increasing and increasing since 2015, though there are always peaks and troughs [within each year].”

The committee agreed that the same level of work on empty properties should continue under the new local authority.

West Somerset Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council will both cease to exist on April 1, 2019, when the new Somerset West and Taunton Council formally takes control.