'Council should have control over vacant homes'

Adam Hug, Westminster City Council leader, wants to see changes that would make it easier for the council to bring properties into use

Homes that have sat vacant for more than six months should be brought into the control of the local authority, a central London council has said.

Westminster City Council is calling on the government to change the law and make it easier for them to issue Empty Management Dwelling Orders which allow the council to bring empty private sector properties back into use.

It said at least 11,000 properties in the borough were unoccupied and many had been for several years.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said they would support councils to tackle empty homes.

The BBC was shown a three-bedroom property squatters were living in

Jacqueline Connerky, Westminster City Council's empty property enforcement officer, approaches the owners of homes across the borough that the council suspects have been empty for some time.

She said: "What we want to try to do is engage with the owner to bring the property back into use."

BBC Politics London visited one home that the council believed to have been empty for five years. Outside, debris and rubbish lay around the property.

At another home shown to the BBC the council was able to get inside because it owned the freehold. The council said there were squatters inside and it wasn't safe, so it said it had secured the building.

"We've got three double rooms [here], so we can easily house six people - a family requiring a three-bedroom property," Ms Connerky said.

Rubbish and debris surrounded one of the properties thought to have been vacant for five years

Westminster City Council wants a change in the law to allow local authorities to apply to take control of private sector properties when they have been empty for more than six months.

The council said it spent £140m over two years on temporary accommodation while at least 11,000 properties in the borough were empty.

There are various ways the council can get control of some empty homes but the process is not easy.

Adam Hug, Westminster City Council leader, said: "We're looking for the government to help reform the empty dwelling management order system and a number of other changes to help local councils and their empty property officers have those productive conversations with landowners to bring properties into use."

Dr Kristian Niemietz said the issue was with the amount of houses being built

Dr Kristian Niemietz, editorial director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: "The issue is that we haven't been building enough houses for more than 40 years.

"Westminster Council, like many other councils, is just trying to distract from that."

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said they would support councils to tackle empty homes by strengthening their powers to take over the management of vacant residential premises.

They added that the government would publish more details on the matter soon.

• Watch the full story on BBC Politics London on 6 April or on iPlayer.