One million empty homes campaign launched at CIH by Ian
Williams with support from Shelter, The Empty Homes Agency and The
Housing Forum
1.6m households, some 4m people, are on a list
for social housing. 
And there’s one facility management
company doing something about it. Ian Williams successfully used
the CIH conference as a platform to debate the need for everyone in
the sector to reduce voids and void turnaround times. Forty days,
and forty nights might have been Noah’s nightmare, but with just
over 40 days needed for social housing properties to be re-let, the
number now represents misery for countless families. We know that
part of the problem is that many of the empty homes are in private
hands, but is it possible for us to play a role in addressing this
crucial issue?
Shelter, the Empty Homes Agency and the
Housing Forum have already signed up to our campaign, and joined us
for the launch event at Swallow St George Hotel, Harrogate during
the CIH conference. Attended by over 70 key thought leaders, the
session saw us team-up with the Housing Forum for the fourth year
running to raise important sector issues. Ian Williams managing
director, Alan Soper, plus senior representatives from the Housing
Forum, Shelter and the Empty Homes Agency, explored how unpopular
empty stock can be transformed into desirable occupied homes with
reduced void times in the process. The debate evoked so much
interest that we now plan to establish a pilot project to undertake
in 2009 with a housing association to plot the timeline of a void
home and consider how every stage can be managed more efficiently
and effectively to reduce the time each property stands empty.
Mike Turner, development director at Ian
Williams, said: “The current economic climate is putting increased
pressure on those organisations which provide social housing. We
know we have a role to play in reducing this pressure, and we also
know our skills and experience of working in empty homes could help
tackle the issue of void turnaround times. We’re only one part of
the jigsaw, so we were delighted to see so many partners, clients
and housing professionals join us to get involved.”