New figures released this week have shown the areas across Cardiff with the highest number of empty houses.
More than a thousand properties left empty in the city are worsening the mounting housing crisis and “blighting communities”.
Cardiff currently has 1,355 private sector homes that have been left empty for more than six months, according to the latest figures.
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That’s a similar figure to the number of homes let to people on the waiting list for social housing last year—highlighting the need to bring these empty homes back into use.
Roath is the ward with the most empty properties, with 166 as of April 2019. The Cathays ward, which includes the city centre, has the second highest with 140.
This was followed by Grangetown with 123, and Riverside including Pontcanna with 110.
Pentyrch had the fewest empty homes with just eight.
Of the 1,355 long term empty homes, 340 have been empty for more than two years, 132 for more than five years, and 53 for more than a decade.
This is the full number of empty homes in each part of Cardiff:
- Plasnewydd (Roath) – 166
- Cathays (including Castle) – 140
- Grangetown – 123
- Riverside (Including Pontcanna) – 110
- Penylan – 62
- Canton – 61
- Splott – 60
- Whitchurch and Tongownlais – 56
- Cyncoed – 50
- Heath – 50
- Adamsdown – 48
- Butetown – 44
- Fairwater – 40
- Llanishen – 40
- Gabalfa – 38
- Rhiwbina – 35
- Llanrumney – 30
- Caerau – 29
- Rumney – 29
- Llandaff – 27
- Pentwyn – 27
- Pontprennau & Old St Mellons – 25
- Ely -24
- Llandaff North – 23
- Trowbridge – 23
- Radyr & Morganstown – 21
- Lisvane – 15
- Creigiau & St Fagons – 13
- Pentyrch – 8
Mary McGarry, Labour councillor for Plasnewydd which had the highest number of empty homes said: “I think it’s really bad news, I wasn’t aware that there were that many empty homes. I mean, I have reported empty homes that have been reported to me, and I could see them for myself when I’m cycling around the ward.
“I think It’s a travesty that there are empty homes when there’s nearly 8,000 people in our area who are desperate for accommodation, for council housing. It’s a travesty, I’m all for trying to do something about it.”
The ward with the second-highest number of empty properties was Cathays. Councillor Norma Mackie said she believes this could be due to the area being a student hub with a high turnover.
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She said: “I wasn’t that surprised because of the turnover of people living there – we have a lot of students and sometimes ex-students who have graduated and still live in HMOs, and so they change so often.
“It’s a very transient population, within Cathays, except for the regular residents, who have lived there for years but there is a huge population who move every year in effect and sometimes the landlords have to do a lot of work before the properties are active again. So I wasn’t that surprised because of that.
“I’d love to see them lived in, we’ve got a huge waiting list of families who need homes. The houses in Cathays offer good family homes and I would like to see them go to families or those who need them.
“It’s a shame when houses are sitting there empty when there are thousands desperate for accomodation.”
Earlier this year, Cardiff Council announced the city was in the “middle of a crisis”, with around 8,000 people on the waiting list for social housing, and demand increasing.
But only 1,600 council and housing association homes become available each year, leaving many waiting for a long time.
And while the Council said they were working on a “huge and historic” house-building programme of 4,000 homes, they are now looking at how these empty homes can be regenerated back into use.
Cardiff council has revealed a new action plan to encourage, and if needed force, landlords not to leave their homes empty in the long term.
Several incentives are used to encourage property owners to bring empty homes back into use. These include loans from the council for renovation, a leasing scheme run by the council and United Welsh housing association, and the option for the council or Taff housing association to purchase empty homes. Advice and assistance is also on offer to landlords.
If incentives don’t work, then the council has a range of enforcement options for empty homes, including compulsory purchase orders, where the owner is forced to sell the home to the council, who will then use it as either council housing or sell it on to a new owner. Other powers include forcing action on problems like overgrown gardens and rodents.
Councillor Lynda Thorne, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: “It is commonly accepted that long-term empty homes are a wasted resource. This is a matter which has been thrown into sharper focus by the pandemic and the housing crisis.
“Empty properties can attract squatting, vandalism, drug abuse, anti-social behaviour, arson, and rodents. They can cause damage to neighbouring homes and if properties remain empty, the inevitable deterioration has an impact on neighbours and blights communities.
“While Cardiff has seen a decrease in long-term empty dwellings down from 1,568 in 2018/19 to 1,355 now, it’s clear that we need a focus and some fresh policies which can help get these properties back in use, housing people and families.”
Cllr Thorne said: “Working with the Welsh Government we have developed an empty homes policy and action plan which outlines the assistance that can be offered to owners to encourage them to bring properties—which have been empty for longer than six months—back into use. This policy also sets out the enforcement tools that are available where advice and assistance fails.
“We want to foster good relations with owners and to encourage them to return their properties to use, giving them all the advice and assistance they require to help them do that. Bringing these types of properties back into use, allied to our own council house building programme, has the potential to make significant inroads as we look to deliver more affordable housing across the city.”
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