People with long-term empty homes in Carmarthenshire will be offered help to bring them back into use but could also face enforcement, including a compulsory purchase order. County councillors have approved a policy which aims to reduce the number of private empty homes from 1,984 to 1,500 in three years' time.
Speaking at a meeting of full council, Cllr Linda Evans, cabinet member for homes, said 62% of the 1,984 properties had been empty for more than two years - some for more than 10 years. "We have to take steps to deal with this," said the Plaid councillor. "We have to realise that it's not acceptable that homes are empty for a long period of time."
Cllr Evans said Camarthenshire had the second best record in bringing empty homes back into use of Wales's 22 councils, but that more needed to be done given demand. Carmarthenshire has more than 4,000 people on the housing register and Cllr Evans said 872 of these individuals "presented as homeless", with 137 currently in temporary accommodation including 31 families. The county's population was 187,900 in 2021.
