Unoccupied homes can blight communities. Not only in that they can become a visual eyesore, but they can attract anti-social behaviour and vermin.

Over time, empty properties – particularly if there are a number in one place – can lead to the deterioration of a neighbourhood.

There are around 3,800 long-term, privately-owned unoccupied homes across the Bradford district. These could be brought back into use, and in turn help to ease the problem of overcrowding and housing shortages in the area.

This year, Bradford Council is forging ahead with a raft of new measures to target these properties after receiving a huge cash boost. A number of initiatives are being introduced after £3million was allocated to tackle the problem.

Homes are categorised as low, medium or high priority, high being those that attract problems such as anti-social behaviour, crime and blight. There are 40 such properties across the district, not only in the inner city, but in leafy, more affluent suburbs.

“Neighbours complain about these homes and the community in general has concerns which range from feelings of insecurity to worries about attracting unwanted visitors,” says Chris Brown, the Council’s regeneration manager for housing.

Unoccupied properties can attract people looking to steal components such as pipework or electrical fittings.

“This means the house will cost even more to repair, and neighbours can suffer secondary damage such as water leaking into their home,” says Chris. “During the cold winter, we had to deal with a large number of calls about broken pipes in unoccupied homes.”

As part of the new measures, the Council will, where possible, ensure that every property reported is secure to prevent unauthorised access, and will attempt to trace owners.

The authority is also producing a simple advice leaflet, as well as putting information on its website. This will include practical help such as instructions on how to turn off stop taps should leaking water be a problem.

Other moves to alleviate the problem include offering a free legal advice service to those having problems selling their unoccupied property. “Hopefully this will lead them to develop a plan themselves,” says Chris.

The Council is also providing a service to match potential buyers with owners of empty properties, and is employing two empty homes advisers to talk to owners whose properties may not be a nuisance to the community, but have been empty for around six months.

“This is to tackle the medium and lower priority cases with advice and support,” says Chris.

Funding for the initiatives has come from council tax being raised from more than 50 per cent to 100 per cent on empty homes, with new unoccupied properties being given six months’ grace. The cash will be spread over three years and is a leap from the previous funding, which amounted to £200,000 per year.

“We have had a big boost in support and enthusiasm to do this, both locally and from the coalition Government,” says Chris.

Addressing the problem effectively involves working with partners including social housing providers Incommunities, Accent housing and property developers.

Homes become empty for many reasons. “People may have inherited a property and don’t know how to manage the sale of it,” explains Chris. “Others may be recently bereaved and not handling it for some time, or owners may be living elsewhere and not have easy access.”

The Council is developing a special loan scheme for those struggling to secure funding to carry out vital repairs to an empty home.

Legal powers to urge owners to act include serving notices for nuisance and carrying out repairs for which the owner must pay. Ultimately, if all else fails, the Council can impose a compulsory purchase order. “Enforcement action is a last resort,” says Chris. “A compulsory purchase order is the ultimate sanction and is used in a handful of cases.”

Last year, Bradford Council responded to 316 enquiries about empty homes in the district. Of these, the authority was responsible for helping private owners return 243 back into use. “We hope these initiatives will improve this figure,” says Chris.

Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers, executive member for housing, says: “Bradford Council gets many calls about empty homes which can cause real problems for neighbours. They are desperate for these homes to be brought back into use and are working to resolve this issue.”