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Caerphilly Council said it has made headway in dealing with hundreds of its empty properties across the county borough.
The council is one of 11 in Wales which maintains its own social housing stock, and like other areas is facing high demand for homes.
Amid long waiting lists, opposition councillors have called previously for a faster turnaround of empty homes for reuse – and new figures indicate the council is making improvements.
“Bringing vacant homes back into use is a priority for this administration,” said Cllr Shayne Cook, the Labour-led council’s cabinet member for housing.
“In just over a year, the total number of vacant homes has reduced from 359 to 266.
“Importantly, we have reallocated 163 more properties in 2025/26 compared with 2024/25, while maintaining an average of 54 property refurbishments per month.”
This was achieved at a time when councils have to meet extra Welsh Housing Quality Standards before they can be relet to tenants, added Cllr Cook.
“This includes fully decorating homes, providing flooring, arranging electricity supplies and smart meter installations through external contractors, capping gas supplies, securing properties, installing new kitchens and bathrooms where required, making gardens safe and dealing with issues such as bed bug infestations, which can delay re-letting for up to eight or nine months,” he explained.
The Labour chairman of the council’s housing committee, Cllr Shane Williams, told colleagues at a recent meeting he was “encouraged about the progress we’re making, particularly towards the vacant homes and challenging that issue, which has been – for want of a better word – a blight… on us when we see so many empty properties”.
Cllr Steve Skivens, of Plaid Cymru, accepted there was “some improvement” in the speed of refurbishing empty one-bedroom homes, but claimed that despite the faster turnarounds, “in the private sector, I don’t think those timings would be acceptable”.
He added the turnaround figures for two-bedroom homes had increased slightly in the past year, and that three-bedroom homes typically stood empty for 94 days this year, despite an improvement on last year’s figures.
“That puts pressure on the council’s other housing options – whether that’ll be housing people in temporary accommodation, guest houses, HMOs and so on, which we know is an area under great pressure,” said Cllr Skivens.
Housing director Nick Taylor-Williams said turnaround speed was “not necessarily where I would want it to be” but “it is progress”.
He urged the committee to consider the figures in a wider context, with more homes being put into circulation across the borough.
“There is a positive trend but it hasn’t finished yet,” he added.
Cllr Judith Pritchard, also Plaid, said it was “encouraging” to hear Mr Taylor-Williams say the council had taken on 25 trades apprentices, and had recruited “in a measured way” to support the refurbishment of its empty homes.
The committee also heard the council avoided borrowing any money this year to carry out the additional works needed to meet the new Welsh Housing Quality Standards, but borrowing is “assumed to be required” from next April onwards.