Kensington and Chelsea councillor calls for new powers to take over ‘ghost homes’

Kensington and Chelsea council have reportedly signed off on a request for ministers to give them the mandate to take over so-called ghost homes, left empty by overseas buyers waiting for their value to increase.

Deputy council leader Kim Taylor-Smith has written to housing minister Kit Malthouse to call for a change in legislation, according to reports, which currently only permits councils to acquire empty houses if threatened by vandalism or squatters.

The news comes after the London council was criticised heavily in the wake of the Grenfell fire, after many tenants were left without homes for months while large houses in the borough, bought under the so-called buy-to-leave market, lay empty.

According to the council's calculations, 621 properties in the Kensington and Chelsea area have been empty and unfurnished for more than two years. More than half of those properties are "among some of the most expensive in the borough", with one property worth just under £30m.

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Taylor-Smith said the request was part of a council initiative to discover "new and innovative ways to increase social housing stock in the borough". As such, new powers would make it "easier, quicker and more financially viable to target all empty properties that could and should be put to use to alleviate pressing housing needs".

The council has proposed a "favourable tax scheme" for the affected property owners, which would apply to any rental income they receive in exchange for allowing new tenants into the home.

"Owners should not lose out. We want to collaborate with, not clobber, the property investor," Taylor-Smith added.

Kensington and Chelsea council could not be reached for comment.