Refurbishing empty properties to bring them back into use as affordable housing is just one part of the solution to meet housing demand and simultaneously stimulate supply, according to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Speaking at the Empty Homes Agency conference in London, Trevor Beattie the HCA's Director of Policy and Strategy confirmed that the Agency is looking at how it might be able to direct more of its £8.4bn National Affordable Housing Programme towards empty homes. But he stressed that it was just one of many priorities and there might be a number of compelling arguments why the HCA's public money might be better spent elsewhere.

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Mr Beattie said: "We would welcome any steps the sector could take to quickly bring empty homes back into use, and in doing so effectively provide extra affordable homes the same as if they were newly built.

"But to listen to some commentators, you would think that the [nearly 700,000] empty homes across England could all be utilised immediately, whereas of course, that is unlikely to be the case.

"For the HCA to invest more of its NAHP, the homes would have to be of the right type, and in the right place - we will not spend public money on homes for the sake of a superficial quick win. There also needs to be a robust value for public money consideration, and it's often more expensive to refurbish an existing home, especially to the high standard the public sector expects, than it is to build a new one. And that's before any capital costs to buy the homes in the first place is added to the equation."

The Agency is also looking at the positive impact refurbishing existing homes may have on the environment, versus new build, and on the blight of dereliction in communities which is a key tenet of the it's approach to re-using brownfield land.

(CD/JM)