Action pledge as 1 in 10 district premises empty

Council 'waiting' on Government guidance over powers

- Phil Corrigan

NEW figures have revealed that about one in 10 commercial properties in parts of North Staffordshire are standing empty.

There are 325 vacant business premises in Biddulph, Leek and Cheadle, with 290 empty for six months or more.

Now Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is set to adopt new measures that will cover both empty homes and disused commercial buildings. Officers told the resources overview and scrutiny committee the authority was seeing success in its work to bring empty homes back into use.

The number of empty homes has fallen from 991 to 840 over the last year, with the number vacant for more than six months falling from 735 to 554. Tools available to the council include charging a council tax premium of up to 300 per cent, and carrying out an 'enforced sale' to change the ownership of an empty home.

But fewer measures exist for empty commercial properties – although the Government recently gave local authorities a new power to auction the lease of 'persistently vacant' high street shops.