New Empty Homes Strategy set to be approved by Council’s Executive

01 May 2026

Following a public consultation, a new North Northamptonshire wide Empty Homes Strategy will be discussed by Executive this month.

Empty homes can have a significant impact on communities, contributing to housing shortages and sometimes leading to issues such as vandalism or neglect. The strategy sets out how the council plans to tackle these challenges and make better use of existing housing stock through the tools available including Compulsory Purchase Orders and Enforced Sales.

At any one time in North Northamptonshire, there are nearly 400 empty properties that have been empty for longer than two years. The new North Northamptonshire wide Empty Homes Strategy sets out various options which aim to:

• Reduce the number of long-term empty homes across the area
• Improve housing standards and reduce blight caused by vacant properties
• Increase affordable housing supply through reuse and regeneration
• Support community regeneration and reduce anti-social behaviour
• Maximise income opportunities through council tax premiums and enforcement

To reach this point, the draft strategy went through a public consultation with respondents who were largely in support of the strategy, agreed the need for it and that the negative effects of empty homes in the community caused blight. It was broadly agreed that there was a greater need to bring empty homes back into use.

Officers have been working hard over the last couple of years to provide an overview of the state of the top long term empty properties. This work will be further built on through the implementation of the strategy which will hopefully help reduce the number of long-term empty properties across North Northamptonshire.

This new strategy emphasises and demonstrates our commitment to returning empty properties back into use and I look forward to discussing the new strategy with fellow Councillors.Cllr Kirk Harrison, the council’s Executive Member for Regulatory Services

Empty homes are unattractive, attract anti-social behaviour and are a blight on streets across North Northamptonshire.

When so many are struggling to find suitable housing, it’s so important that we do all we can to reduce the number of empty homes in the local area.Cllr Martin Griffiths, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council

North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will meet on Tuesday 12 May at 10am at the Corby Cube and the papers are now available online. The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube.