More than 150 Kingston council homes have lay empty for at least two years, while more than 1,000 households across the borough are living in temporary accommodation.
The figures raise questions about the balance between delivering long-term regeneration and meeting the borough’s immediate housing needs.
Chris Bailey is Director of Policy and Campaigns at Action on Empty Homes – a charity campaigning to bring long-term empty properties back into residential use as affordable housing.
He said: “In a housing crisis it’s very bad to have a couple of hundred empty social homes.
“You have to take seriously any decision to basically take social housing out of action in a situation where there’s a shortage.
“Every day or week or year property is vacant is a day or a week or a year that somebody else is spending in temporary accommodation who could be housed in that property.”
However, the figures need to be considered in the context of Kingston’s regeneration plans, specifically the Cambridge Road estate.
The first homes on this estate began to fall vacant in 2018, with further properties emptied in subsequent years as the regeneration progressed.
Construction started in May 2023 following a 2020 ballot with a 73% approval rating where a total of 122 properties were earmarked for construction.
With the scheme not due to finish until 2035, it raises the question of why homes are emptied so far in advance.
Bailey said councils must consider whether properties are vacant for the shortest possible time and whether regeneration delivers the greatest possible benefit.
Kingston Council says families are already moving in – 40 in May, and up to 200 more in the coming months.
It also says it uses empty council homes for temporary accommodation where possible, but properties nearing demolition tend to have issues which prevent this.
Bailey said there have been examples where some councils have used vacant homes in the run into regeneration for temporary accommodation and offered a more positive assessment of the scheme than of some other regeneration projects he had examined.
He referred to long-stalled schemes in parts of Newham that started moving residents out as early as 2004 but are not finished yet.
He added: “By the standards of local authority regeneration projects it’s probably not the worst I’ve seen. It does appear to be progressing. Stuff is being built. People are moving in.
“It does offer genuine additionality of social housing, not just additional housing.”
A Kingston Council spokesperson said: “The figures in the FOI response cite properties part of planned projects, including 122 which are part of the regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate and 39 properties on smaller sites awaiting redevelopment.
“Blocks are emptied in planned stages so that residents can be safely moved into suitable long-term housing without being rushed.
“Leaving properties empty is never our preference, but we will not compromise on resident safety or misspend public finances on buildings scheduled to be replaced.”
Featured image credit: Elsie Fry at Kingston First
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