Empty homes could be seized

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott yesterday unveiled proposals giving councils the power to take over private properties.

The controversial policy, coupled with ending the 50 per cent council tax reduction for second homes, aims to bring empty houses back into use.

Mr Prescott told the Commons yesterday councils could take over leases by force where the owners are leaving them unoccupied.

Almost 6,000 people are on Brighton and Hove's housing waiting lists but 2,348 properties stand empty, of which 2,178 are in private hands.

Waiting times for some properties in the city have stretched to five years.

But landlords last night said "compulsory leasing" would be unfair and almost impossible to enforce.

The most recent figures presented to Parliament showed the council owned only 196 of the city's empty properties, with 81 owned by registered social landlords.

In a written statement to Parliament, Mr Prescott said: "In London and the South-East, 70,000 privately-owned homes have been empty for over six months.

"This is not acceptable. It is our intention that councils should be able to bring empty properties back into use through compulsory leasing."

A spokeswoman for Mr Prescott's office said the possible mech-anisms for councils to enforce compulsory leasing had not yet been drawn up.

Mr Prescott's plans would go out for public consultation.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said 3,253 people were waiting for housing at the last count.

But Councillor Pat Murphy, deputy chairman of the housing management committee, said this figure rose to almost 6,000, counting people waiting for transfers from unsuitable temporary accommodation.

He said: "This latest announcement is excellent news. People who have been waiting a long time should have extra hope now they will have access to decent housing.

"For too long, everything has been weighted in the landlords' favour. They have been behaving anti-socially by leaving properties idle and unoccupied for years. I can only assume they are leaving them empty for speculative purposes, in the hope of financial gain."

Mr Prescott's announcement prompted suggestions some landlords might opt to put their empty properties up for sale.

But Mike Stimpson, chairman of the Southern Private Landlords' Association, did not think this would have a significant impact on house prices.

Brighton-based Mr Stim-pson said most properties remained empty for good reasons and landlords should not be forced to rent them out. It was often the council's "inflexible" planning regulations which meant empty properties remained out-of-use.

Mr Prescott said the Government was investing £22 billion during the next three years to spruce up run-down estates.

He promised £260 million would go towards tackling the problem of people stuck in bed-and- breakfast accommodation while insisting more low-cost homes would be built in the South-East, particularly aimed at key workers such as teachers and doctors.