OVER 1200 homes in Worcester remain empty but pressure remains on to build new houses.

According to Government figures, 1,274 houses were empty in 2017 in the city, the highest in the county, with 1,271 unfilled in Wychavon and 1,041 in Malvern Hills.

Despite that, Worcester City Council is pressing ahead with targets to build 261 new homes in Worcester per year and the South Worcestershire Development Plan is for 1,314 per year in South Worcestershire.

The Government is planning to increase the council tax premium local authorities can impose on long-term empty homes.

Worcester MP Robin Walker has spoken out in favour of the bill.

He said: "There is no silver bullet to fix our broken housing market – we need action on all fronts.

"There is a shortage of affordable housing in this country and in our city, and tackling the issue of empty homes - while also seeking to ensure that we respect the rights of property-owners - is part of the solution.

“Time and time again, local residents who feel locked out of buying their own home or who have spent too long on housing association waiting lists have contacted me to express their anger and frustration at seeing houses in their area left empty to decay for years.

"I completely understand that frustration, which is why I first called for action to be taken on this front in 2011.

“The changes introduced in 2013 had begun to make a difference as we saw vacant property figures fall.

"But it seems that momentum was not maintained after Labour and the Greens took over the running of Worcester City Council in 2016 and the number of homes left empty shot back up.

“Earlier this year I challenged the city council to do more to ensure the delivery of affordable homes after Worcester missed out on millions of pounds of potential funding from the Government’s New Homes Bonus.

"Now we are set to give local authorities another weapon in their armoury to help boost the supply of housing without encroaching on our green belt. I hope to see this bill attract support from all sides of the House and - if passed into law – I very much expect to see it used by the city council to drive down this worrying rise in empty homes.”

In 2013, local authorities in England were allowed to charge a premium of up to 50 percent on ‘long-term empty dwellings’ – that is, homes that have been unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for at least two years.

The new bill would increase the premium’s maximum level to 100 percent. Decisions on whether to apply a premium, and the exact rates to be charged, will remain a matter for individual local authorities.

Cllr Adrian Gregson leader of the Worcester Labour Party, said: "Government could give local authority's more simple and speedy powers to  Compulsory Purchase Powers to acquire empty properties. The real issue is, of course, is building more houses, including e.g empowering local authority's to build.

"The old chestnut of the NHB - dependent on planning permissions and these  being implemented - currently mainly province of private sector. "City has a good record of granting permissions for housing schemes

"The city council already charges 100 percent council tax on properties empty for more than 6 or 12 months depending on status, so proposed legislation will make no difference at all.

"Walker's assertion about Labour's impact, doesn't match the figures.

"Bringing empty properties back into use often involves complex legal issues, it is difficult to have officer capacity to progress when the city council funding has been reduced by austerity."