- 82% of respondents agree with the four objectives of the draft strategy whilst only 12% disagree
Objectives: Levels of agreement
Summary
Overall, how much do you agree or disagree that these four objectives are the right ones?
Base: Total sample (615)
This chart shows agreement with the four strategic objectives: 43% strongly agree, 39% agree, 6% disagree, 6% strongly disagree, and 6% don’t know.
Do you think there is anything missing from these objectives?
Base: Total sample (615)
| wdt_ID | Key themes | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Support and incentivise landlords/owners e.g. loans, reduced council tax, help to sell | 6 |
| 2 | Control/limit HMOs and student housing | 5 |
| 3 | Focus on homes for local people/families/veterans | 4 |
| 4 | Measures to penalise owners of long-term empty homes or second/holiday let homes e.g. higher rates | 4 |
| 11 | Compulsory purchase after certain length of time | 3 |
| 12 | Enforce action by owners whether that is timely refurbishment/repairs, or getting it ready for market and selling it | 3 |
| 13 | Reduce housing waiting list and homelessness | 3 |
| 14 | More affordable homes (to buy and rent) | 3 |
| 15 | Better communication with residents and owners e.g. regular letters, updates, easy way to report an empty property, impact assessment in person | 3 |
| 16 | More clarity/detail/actions needed | 2 |
| 17 | Maintain rights of owner to do what they see fit with their property | 2 |
| 18 | Include other types of property e.g. commercial, brown-land sites, council sites | 2 |
| 19 | Measures to reduce negative impacts of empty homes e.g. control vermin, reduce ASB, unsightly neglect | 1 |
| 20 | Sensitivity when dealing with bereavement or sickness | 1 |
| 21 | Empty homes are not the main issues. More focus on new builds, property developers and planning policy changes | 1 |
| 22 | Good to use existing homes rather than build new ones | 1 |
| 23 | Other e.g. anti-immigrant sentiment, don’t spend council money on properties that would cost a lot to bring to a liveable standard, make sure residents and infrastructure are consulted about future usage of an empty home, work with partners (estate agents, housing associations, charity sector) | 3 |
| 24 | Na/no comment | 60 |
“Lower costs of things like council tax while improving the property, as an incentive to improve it to a standard where it can be inhabited.”
“Ensure empty properties are given to Portsmouth residents and not turned into HMOs with government initiatives to house illegal migrants.”
“Yes, prioritise all residents locally on time lived in the area and being British born and ex services personnel have the highest priority.”
“Tackle properties that are bought by outside investors purely for speculation. There are a number of properties that could be used as homes for first time buyers that are instead used as an investment opportunity. This has the effect of pricing out first time buyers and forcing them to move outside of the city.”
