Empty houses

and we still have people looking for a place to rent?

I know that there are people who have blacklisted as tenants. Their behaviour in and their care of a property has been unacceptable - and often not just to one landlord but to many.  

There are other people who desperately need a place to live and who will care for it. Why then do we have empty houses even when rental accommodation seems to be in such short supply that people are couch surfing?

There is a house at the end of this street which has now been empty for over five years. The old man living in it died. Since then all that has happened is that the grass - it can no longer be called a lawn - has been cut when it grows too high to ignore. We have watched it slowly deteriorate on the outside.

I went in and out of the house when the old man needed some help. It would easily have accommodated a family with several children. There is plenty of room for young children to play safely. It is in a very good area for schools and other services. 

So, why is it still empty after five years? It has never been put on the open market. All the neighbours can assume is that there are probate issues or that the children are clinging to it for some unknown reason.

This is the sort of place which, if not being used should be taken over by a government housing authority and used for emergency accommodation until such time as those responsible for the property have dealt with it in an acceptable way. In this case the house will almost certainly be knocked down because the land on which it sits is big enough for two houses or maybe three "units". Yes, finances might be a problem but is that a reason for the house to lie empty when people with children are sleeping in their cars?

There was a house not much further away which was empty for almost thirty years. The woman who owned it was living in another country. She was apparently no longer capable of giving instructions about what was to be done with it.  Just over two years ago it was knocked down and two houses are now on the property. But for those thirty years before that? Surely it could have been used? 

I know there are problems with all this. Our neighbours to one side were living in Germany for several years. His work had taken him there. Before they left they told us they would be renting out the house. We agreed to keep an eye on the place even though there was an agent who was supposed to be dealing with it. The first tenants were fine. They were simply waiting for their own house to be finished. The second tenants grew marijuana in the back shed. No, they were not noisy or disruptive. The young man was actually very kind to the Senior Cat. He twice helped when the Senior Cat and I could not manage something. What gave the game away to us was the late night visitors and the way they behaved. The tenants moved on before the police moved in. On his return from Germany J.... showed the Senior Cat the evidence the agent had not bothered to report.  That sort of thing is a problem but should it stop other people being housed?

Middle Cat and her husband have a second property which is being rented out. (No,they are not "rich". It is the way they invested the money Middle Cat had saved when she stopped work.) The tenants have been there for years now. They are good tenants.If they needed to move on they would be given a good reference. They know they have responsibilities as tenants. 

I suspect most people do know they have responsibilities as tenants. It might also be that there should be more frequent inspections, that agents should not believe they can simply glance at the outside of a premises as they pass by in a vehicle. If there are problems then there need to be ways of enforcing solutions, particularly with bad tenants. But houses should not remain empty for years when people need housing.