Residential Landlords in a Lancashire district may be offered loans as part of a new Empty Homes Action Plan to renovate problem sites. It is one of the options being considered by Pendle Borough Council to overcome the problem of an estimated 2,000 empty homes in its area.

The empty properties are considered a ‘wasted asset’ and the council has warned that it could begin legal proceedings to take over rundown locations to prevent the long-term decline of neighbourhoods.

Questionnaires are being sent to all landlords of empty property requesting information on why a particular location remains vacant.

Sonia Robinson, the council’s executive member for housing regeneration, was quoted in the Lancashire Telegraph as saying: “Our empty homes officer will play a vital role in bringing vacant properties back into use.

“There can be numerous reasons why properties are empty and there are lots of methods we’re applying to bring them back into use.”

Her colleague, Paul Lloyd, the council’s housing standards manager, added: “We would take on the management of the property to stop an area declining.

“It’s a spiral of abandonment - if one property becomes empty more follow and it rapidly reaches a point where everyone moves out.”

The council has reminded landlords that if they want assistance in renting out a property, social housing grants can be considered to bring a home back into use in the short-term, with loans as option as a more permanent solution.

Pendle council recently took action against what it considered to be a rogue landlord. She was fined £1,000, with £1,610 costs, at Reedley Magistrates Court after failing to carry out repairs to a property in Brierfield.