Homes Go Under the Hammer!
Date of Release: Wed 19th November, 2008
A FREE service for landlords which is unique in the Midlands has helped give a fresh start to two long-term empty homes.
Charnwood Borough Council is the only authority in the region to offer landlords a place to advertise details of vacant properties.
And two houses that have been advertised through the Council’s Fresh Start scheme have now gone under the hammer.
The homes, in Nottingham Road, Barrow Upon Soar, and Church Lane, Quorn, were both sold for undisclosed fees.
Only owners who have been receiving a Council Tax Empty Property Reduction for six months or more are eligible to sell homes through the Fresh Start scheme website.
It is just one of three services that are being run by Charnwood Borough Council for private landlords in a bid to reduce the number of empty properties and help families in housing need.
Since its launch in April, the Council has helped 16 families find homes through the website, which has received almost 5,000 hits.
Russell Clarke, Charnwood Borough Council’s Homelessness Resource Officer, said: “We’re delighted to have helped with the sale of these two properties.
“The website is simple to use and we’re hoping even more landlords will take advantage of this excellent service.”
Landlords can find out more about the initiatives at a Landlord Surgery being held at Charnwood Borough Council’s offices in Southfields Road, Loughborough, on Monday, November 24th between 4pm and 6pm.
The informal, drop in event is designed to give landlords the opportunity to find out how the website works and raise any issues they may have.
Cllr David Slater, Charnwood Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Housing and Health, said: “It’s important that we can offer help to landlords and it’s clear the scheme works by the sale of these two properties.
“If they’ve not already discovered it, I would encourage landlords to pop along to the Landlords Surgery to learn about the website. They will realise it’s a great help to them and this is a wonderful opportunity to find out more.”
To find out more about the Fresh Start scheme, Tenant Finder or the Landlords eForum, log on to http://extranet.charnwood.gov.uk/landlordservices, call Russell Clarke on (01509) 634 937 or email landlord.services@charnwood.gov.uk