Cllr Katherine Reece and Cllr Richard Wilson outside one of the borough’s empty homes

Over 1700 homes in Haringey were left empty and unused last year whilst nearly 19,000 families were waiting for a council house. Haringey Liberal Democrats are calling on the council to do more to bring empty homes back into use.

The government has just announced an extra £300m fund for make empty homes fit for families. The money is on top of the £160m that has already been made available by the government to bring empty homes back into use.

The communities minister, Don Foster, pledged to “stop the rot” that empty homes can bring to blighted neighbourhoods and said that he “wants to go much further” in tackling the problem.

The local Lib Dems are urging the council to bid for a share of the money so more empty homes in the borough can be used instead of lying unused.

Cllr Richard Wilson, Lib Dem Housing spokesperson, comments:

It is great news that the government has made this extra money available to bring empty homes up to standard and make usable again.

I hope the council will seize this opportunity and bid for some of the government cash so they can do more to tackle the astonishing number of empty homes in Haringey.

Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

This is typical of Haringey Council. They are once again letting vulnerable residents down, leaving people on waiting lists while properties lie empty.

Earlier this year I brought an empty property on Truro road to their attention and called on them to take action.

With the Government’s further investment, Haringey Labour really has no excuse not to act. They should be bidding for a share of this money, housing vulnerable families in these properties, and sorting out this unacceptable situation as soon as possible.