Empty Properties Blight on City say Plaid

Dr Dai Lloyd, Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for South Wales West has called on the Welsh Government and Swansea Council to tackle the problem of empty properties that is a “blight on the city and county”. Across the City and County of Swansea there are 2,358 empty properties.

Dr Lloyd says that both the Labour Welsh Government and Swansea Council must do more to combat the issue of empty properties in Swansea.

“Clearly there needs to be joint working between the Labour Welsh Government and Swansea Council to reduce the number of empty properties. These empty homes are a blight on the City and County of Swansea. We have people sleeping rough on the streets of our city, while over 2,000 properties lie empty and unused. It is clear that more needs to be done to bring these homes back into use.”

Dr Lloyd called on Swansea council to engage with other local authorities across Wales and learn from best practice, stating,

“I have received numerous complaints from constituents in every part of the county stating that empty properties are a problem in their communities. I would like to see Swansea Council engage with other local authorities who have a lower number of empty properties to see what their approach to tackling the scourge is.

“The Labour Welsh Government also has a key role here in ensuring that local authorities take action to bring empty properties back into use. This should a priority for the Government, and I would expect Julie James, as Minister, to be doing all that she can to deliver a reduction in the number of empty properties in Swansea.

“Residents across Swansea are completely fed up with empty properties impacting negatively on their streets and communities.”

Councils in Wales have the powers to deal with empty properties, but according to Shelter Cymru do not currently use them for fear of “getting it wrong”. The charity has also called for a simpler process to be introduced, such as in Scotland, where Edinburgh Council are imposing compulsory purchase orders on over 1,000 houses that have been empty for over 12 months.