Rutland County Council are offering grants to the owners of empty homes in Rutland to help both bring properties back into use and reduce homelessness within the county.

The grants being offered by Rutland County Council are between £5,000 and £10,000 or up to £15,000 in some cases as part of the Empty Homes Grant Scheme. 

Rutland currently has 216 empty houses that have been unoccupied for over 6 months while the council is supporting 63 families at risk from homelessness, with 16 of those in temporary accommodation due to a lack of suitable housing.  

This scheme hopes to relieve the pressure on families struggling to find suitable accommodation, thus taking pressure off the council, as well as filling homes that would otherwise be empty. 

Cllr Diane Ellison is the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health at Rutland County Council. "We work closely with families to try and prevent homelessness and find suitable accommodation when they have nowhere to live," says Cllr Ellison. 

"Empty properties are an obvious source of additional housing and can often create problems for local communities if they're left abandoned and fall into disrepair. 

"Our Empty House Grants Scheme can help to cover the cost of bringing these properties back into use in a way which then helps people who don't have a place to live." 

There are, however, conditions on these grants. The funds from the grant must be used to pay for the repairs needed to make empty homes habitable and once this is complete, the owners are then required to rent the properties to households at risk of homelessness. This must be done for a minimum of five years and at a rent that matches the Local Housing Allowance plus 10%.

Each application for this grant will be carefully considered by the council on a range of factors, including how well a property meets local housing needs, how long a property has been empty, the location of the property and whether the investment of the grant will represent value for money. 

For those wanting more information or to apply for the grant, visit Rutland Council Council's Empty Homes website.