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Opposition councillors have questioned why empty properties can’t be turned around quicker with 346 council houses currently empty and without tenants, according to figures obtained by them.

Caerphilly County Borough Council terms these properties as ‘voids’ and as of December 2024, a ‘void’ property was empty on average for 218 days.

The reasons for them being empty vary. They could be undergoing repair or refurbishment, awaiting redevelopment, waiting to be let or kept back to house people who have suffered an emergency – such as flooding.

The figure is slightly down on the average number of empty council houses over the past year, which was 406.

But councillors want to know why empty properties can’t be re-let quicker – especially when there are 6,420 people on the council’s housing waiting list.

Independent councillor Nigel Dix, of Blackwood, and Plaid Cymru’s Greg Ead, of Penyrheol, have also pointed to the increasing costs to the local authority of temporary accommodation.

Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, councils have a duty to help people who are homeless, or who are under the threat of homelessness.

This can include the provision of temporary accommodation, such as in a house in multiple occupation (HMO) or a bed and breakfast, while a suitable permanent property is found.

According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act to opposition councillors, in 2022/23, the cost of this to Caerphilly Council was £4.06million. In 2023/24 it was £5,904,646, while this financial year it is estimated to hit £7.742m.

There are around 549 people in temporary accommodation at the moment. Single person households are in temporary accommodation for an average of two years, while family households are there for an average of six months.

Councillor Greg Ead said: “If I was living in bed and breakfast, or sofa-surfing, and was given the option of waiting over six months for an empty house to be made perfect for me to move into; or I could move in immediately to a perhaps not perfect but suitable home of my own, then I would choose the latter, along with, I suspect, the vast majority.

“We are informed that there is a housing crisis across the country but I was absolutely shocked by the scale of empty council-owned homes across Caerphilly CBC. Over 400 homeless people could be accommodated in empty council properties. Clearly this crisis is one of the council’s own making.

“This issue can no longer be ignored and we need action now from the Labour council to dramatically speed up the time it takes to move new tenants out of unsuitable temporary accommodation into a council-owned home.”

Cllr Dix said the “shocking” figures released to him and Plaid Cymru showed a “total failure”.

He said: “The council failure to re-let the 346 empty properties has led to an eye watering £1,556,681 a year in lost revenue.

“Labour-led Caerphilly likes to plead poverty and plans to make millions in cuts to frontline services, however, their abject failure to manage our housing stock is failing people who are desperate to be housed and costing millions – which could be spent on frontline services.”

Labour’s response: ‘It’s more complicated than it appears’

It’s too simple an argument to link the number of council voids with the increase in demand for temporary accommodation, so argues Cllr Shayne Cook, who is Caerphilly Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for housing.

He explained the increase in spending on temporary accommodation has been driven by demand for one and two-bedroom properties – brought on by demographic changes.

“Currently 50% – 274 out of 549 – of our temporary accommodation is made up of single persons, but as a stockholder,” he explained, “Caerphilly Homes has a limited amount of move on stock with around 20% being made up of one bedroom accommodation – 1868 out of 10,624.

“There is a real lack of one bedroom accommodation in the private and social housing sector, that is why this Labour authority has stepped in and provided temporary accommodation, started the building of new council properties, and provided over £1million towards the purchasing of 27 privately-owned properties to provide housing for families who would otherwise find themselves in temporary accommodation.”

To meet current demand for single-bedroom flats, Cllr Cook said an extra 450 single occupancy council homes will need to be built over the next five to ten years.

There is also the changing legislative and regulatory landscape giving more rights to tenants. This has led to many private sector landlords selling-up and exiting the sector.

In response, Caerphilly Council is using its Caerphilly Keys leasing scheme, in partnership with Welsh Government, to encourage more landlords to lease their properties.

WHQS demands

The Welsh Housing Quality Standard dictates to councils, and other social landlords, the condition a property must be in before it is habitable.

The number of regulations, Cllr Cook said, has increased from 33 to 44 and this has had a knock-on effect in the time it takes to turn properties around. More staff dedicated to getting properties ready, means less time for routine maintenance on properties housing existing tenants.

The local authority has also enhanced its own re-letting standards – decorating empty properties and installing flooring.

Cllr Cook said this was to support tenants further and reduce potential future maintenance issues.

But he did agree that the current number of voids was “not good enough” with an extra 100 properties out of action.

The council, he said, usually has around 2% of its 10,000 properties as ‘void’ but this has increased to around 3% recently.

Supply chain issues also mean it is difficult to source materials, adding further to the delays.

He added: “Bringing empty properties back into use is a high priority for us, but we must manage new Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 compliance checks.”