Empty council properties

Information Request NPH00-1673/20

I am writing to respond to your request for information received on Tuesday 8th December 2020 which has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI).

Your request has been given the unique Information Request No. NPH00-1673/20.  Please quote this reference on all correspondence relating to this request.

You have requested the following information. Our response is shown in bold.

I wish to request, under the Freedom of Information Act, that you supply me with:

The total amount of empty council-owned properties during the year 2020 to date, 2019 and as many years for which records are available.

I would like the information in whatever format it exists e.g. monthly totals per year, number of days empty per year etc.

For the month of January to December 2019, there were 662 allocations made following a property going through Voids works. In the same period January to December 2020, there were 559 allocations made following Voids works. The figures for 2018 Jan-Dec were 680. NPH are unable to offer any other years, although we are able to pull a report, it would not be a figure measuring the same information. Therefore, we are unable to ensure accuracy in any figures prior to 2018.

There will be other properties that would have been void/empty that are used for Temporary Accommodation by Northampton Borough Council, and some properties would have been temporarily empty while major works/investments works were done, these would have been decants.

The disclosure to you of the enclosed information does not give you a right to reproduce or publish such information without the express permission of Northampton Borough Council or any other owners of the copyright therein.  To do so you will need a licence under the ‘Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015’.

If you consider NPH has not provided the information you have requested you have the right to challenge that decision in respect of your information request within 6 months.

Please write to:

Information Access Challenges

Northampton Partnership Homes

The Guildhall

St Giles Square

Northampton

NN1 1DE

Otherwise please email: information@nph.org.uk.  Emails to this address are automatically acknowledged.

If your challenge is not resolved to your complete satisfaction, you will then have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.

If you feel your request has been handled unfairly you should, in the first instance, complain using NPH’s Customer Feedback form and address it to the department you have been dealing with. NPH’s Complaints procedure (a full copy of which is available by telephoning or writing to NPH’s Data Management Officer) will then be used to try and resolve your complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Santina Chambers

Data Management Officer

Northampton Partnership Homes 

01604 838794 | 0300 330 7003

www.northamptonpartnershiphomes.org.uk