£3m investment helps to refurbish 120 empty homes in Wales

Bangor. Photo Credit – Mike Peel. Flickr.

Empty houses in Gwynedd and Anglesey have been turned back into homes following £3.25m of Welsh government regeneration funding.

Up to 120 properties are being refurbished through grants and loans to tackle the problem of long term vacancies and improve the quality of housing stock in the private rented sector. The homes are being leased at an affordable rent for ten years.

This investment is part of the Welsh Government’s Targeted Regeneration Investment programme, £100m of funding over three years to support regeneration projects, supported by an estimated further investment of at least £60m from other organisations and businesses.

Mr Emyr Roberts of EM & W Roberts, has been converted from an empty barbers shop into six one bedroom flats on Bangor High Street thanks to a Welsh Government Targeted Investment Regeneration grant and a Houses into Homes loan – as well as support from Gwynedd Council.

Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government Hannah Blythyn said: ‘It’s really encouraging to see how this funding is making a difference and bringing homes back into use.

‘We are committed to providing more affordable homes across Wales, and this investment is also supporting local construction jobs and revitalising parts of our town centres.’

The charity Action on Empty Homes published a new report last month which it called an ‘action plan’ to tackle the issue of empty homes in the UK, which is now over 216,000.

The report, called ‘Community Action on Empty Homes’, says better partnerships must be forged between community-led projects, local councils and central government.