Funds to repair empty Audlem homes

Anyone with an empty house in Audlem could get up to £15,000 cash help to get it fit to live in.

It's part of a national scheme to help bring empty homes back into use and it's being backed by Cheshire East Council.

The aim of the National Empty Homes Loan Fund (NEHLF) is to help tackle the country's housing shortage.

The NEHLF is handing out secured loans of up to £15,000 at a fixed 5% interest rate to enable owners of a run-down property to renovate them.

Many homes remain empty because owners don't have funds to repair them. Now funding could be available to owners of properties that have been empty for six months or more.

In Cheshire East there are 1,371 properties that have been empty for between six months and a year and a further 944 homes have been empty for more than two years.

Cheshire East Council, the charity Empty Homes and the government are managing the scheme. Specialist mortgage lender the Ecology Building Society will administer it.

The scheme will operate alongside Cheshire East's existing Empty Homes Assistance (EMA) scheme which also offers homeowners loans of up to £10,000 to carry out repairs that bring their empty homes back into use.

Owners of empty properties can apply for the NEHLF loan through Cheshire East or go directly through the Ecology Building Society.

Full details of the scheme can be found at www.emptyhomes.com and www.ecology.co.uk/emptyhomes or you can access the Cheshire East website for more information on the council's own Empty Homes Assistance Scheme.

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