Many of the owners are not prepared to invest the time or money to get

“Many of the owners are not prepared to invest the time or money to get them back up to scratch.”But the scheme also has its critics, who are calling for more flexibility. The Tories, for example, have raised concerns that EDMOs could lead to a situation where grieving relatives find the home of a deceased relative has been seized.But the EHA says the orders will be a back-up to services already provided by councils. “We have 100,000 homeless families in temporary accommodation in London and 100,000 empty dwellings..”As well as easing the housing shortage, bringing an empty property back into use could benefit the whole community, as derelict houses are an eyesore and tend to attract arsonists and fly tippers. They can also devalue neighbouring homes.”It is excellent that the Government is finally taking action to deal with this blight on the housing landscape,” says Melanie Bien, associate director at broker Savills Private Finance.

“With a lack of suitable property for first-time buyers, it is scandalous so many perfectly habitable homes lie empty.”Some of these, she adds, are well-constructed older properties – including Georgian and Victorian houses – which have fallen into neglect. Otherwise, the local authority will proceed with the order.Once a home has been let out under an EDMO, it will revert to the owner on an agreed date once arrangements to repay any reasonable costs incurred by the council are settled.The consultation will look at for how long properties need to be vacant before an EDMO is issued, and which properties would be exempt – such as second homes, holiday homes and those undergoing renovation.The consultation closes on 14 October, with the new powers expected to come into force by the end of the year.With figures from campaigning charity the Empty Homes Agency (EHA) showing as many as 720,000 long-term vacant properties in England alone – 300,000 of which have been vacant for six months or more – the problem is acute.”The situation makes no sense,” says a spokesman for the Shelter charity. The operational details of these are under consultation, but councils will be able to take on the management of longer-term unoccupied houses and flats for up to seven years – provided every effort has been made to trace the owners.”EDMOs are aimed at rundown properties that are blighting communities,” says a spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM.) “If the owner is willing, the local authority will take it over, refurbish it and let it out.” If the owner is not willing, he will have to provide a good reason. The Government has long talked about how it wants to bring Britain’s empty homes back into use in a bid to ease the UK’s housing shortage. And last month, Deputy Prime minister John Prescott put words into action when he unveiled plans to give councils new powers to take over unoccupied properties.

Under the proposals, which may become law later this year, councils could be allowed to seize control of private homes that have been left vacant for six months or more, and then to manage and rent them out.
This will take place through what are known as Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs). “But when you come to sell, you could still own only a part of the house, which could also be in an undesirable area.”Work will get under way on the first site, in Milton Keynes, next spring, and some of the developments are targeted for completion by the end of 2006.. When the property is sold, any profit will be redistributed in equivalent proportions.”Co-owning this way is a great idea if your salary will never reach the total value of the house in terms of income multiples,” says Rob Clifford, managing director of broker MortgageForce. “But our primary role in this initiative is to make it absolutely clear to people what a £60,000 building cost means: that figure refers to the construction costs and not the purchase price.”Once built, the 300 starter homes will be offered to first-time buyers on a shared-equity basis under the Government’s HomeBuy Initiative. This means the purchaser will only have to borrow a certain percentage of the house value, with the rest of the cash stumped up by housing associations, lenders or developers. But the ODPM defends its locations by pointing out that brownfield sites are being used instead of the green belt, and that all land will be made fit to live on.Another concern is that the £60,000 limit is not linked to the sale value, which is likely to be determined by location and so could rise much higher.The Building Cost Information Service, a division of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, points out that both houses and flats are already being built for £68,000 or less.It says that based on a survey of more than 200 social housing schemes, the average cost of a two-person, one-bed unit is currently just under £57,000.”Our research shows that building a home for £60,000 is clearly possible,” says spokes- woman Dawn Wood. “We need tons more houses than this to even start to address the problem.”The Government , he says, “is simply tinkering at the edges of the housing problem”.The Tories have also cast doubt on the Government’s promises , claiming that all the nominated developments are on contaminated sites in highly undesirable areas – including in view of a landfill and next to a high-security prison.

“With just 1,000 properties set to be built, and just a third of these available to first-timers, the number who will actually benefit is fairly insignificant.”He adds that the first four areas in which these properties will be built – Milton Keynes, Northampton, Maidstone and Leeds – are all outside London. So those in the capital, who struggle most to buy their first home, will not gain.”This amounts to a drop in the ocean,” adds Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents. “Once we have learned from this, the methods can be used on a wider basis to assist groups such as first-time buyers.”But while the £60,000 challenge looks good on paper, it may be of little use to the thousands who are unable to grab the first rung of the ladder.”The impact of this scheme will be limited,” says Mark Harris, managing director of broker Savills Private Finance. They will now be invited to bid to build their designs, which must be energy efficient.The overall aim, says a spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), is to show that the cost of building does not need to be high. It does not include the cost of the land for the properties as the Government will provide public sector sites – once used for schools, hospitals and military bases – to build on.The cost of site infrastructure, such as drainage, estate roads and parking, is not being priced into the limit either.On the shortlist are firms including Barratt Developments, Geoffrey Osborne and George Wimpey UK. Launched in April, this challenged UK building firms to provide 1,000 well-designed homes on 10 sites, among which around a third will be solely for first-time buyers. The benchmark price will be £60,000 for two-bedroom properties, but all units, whether they be family homes or studios, will be built with equivalent cost-efficiency.Under the rules of the competition – being run by the Government’s regeneration agency, English Partnerships – the £60,000 limit only applies to the construction price.

Careful oak treatment, pleasingly plump.Porcupine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (£6.99, Sainsbury’s) More French classicism from South Africa, all cassis and fine French oak And, like all these wines, it has a screwcap – hooray!. The first-time buyer market is collapsing and the Government has been shaken to its foundations. First-timers still account for just under a third of all house purchases, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), but that’s down from nearly half this time 10 years ago. And in recent years, housing construction costs have been rising at four times the rate of inflation – using the Consumer Price Index measure.
That is why the Government’s latest initiative to solve Britain’s affordability crisis, help new buyers on to the ladder and repair this vital structural support for the whole property market has centred on proving that spiralling building costs can be slashed.Last month, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott unveiled the nine consortiums that have successfully made it through to the shortlist in his Design for Manufacture competition. More northern Rh?than Antipodean.Porcupine Ridge Merlot 2004 (£6.99, Oddbins) This Porcupine is a lot more interesting and prickly than many of his dumber, cuddlier brethren. Just don’t try to sell them in B?ers.Top Corks: Boekenhoutskloof over-14sPorcupine Ridge Syrah 2004 (£6.99, Avery’s Mail Order, Waitrose, Somerfield, Wine Society) Big alcohol is matched by the right figures elsewhere.