Hello Medway Investors,

Can you believe it, in an article earlier this month I wrote about how landlords are waiting in anticipation for the next phase of Medway Council’s local housing & development plan, however due to a bungled application, the vote on 27,000 homes was pulled following a huge backlash amongst councillors.

The vote was pulled due to plans being called “incomplete and flawed” as it was missing vital documents around transport and sustainability measures. Also, concerns remained about decisions to allocate thousands of homes in controversial locations including Deangate, Chatham Docks and the Hoo Peninsula.

In addition to this, it appears that around 1,400 jobs at the dockyard were at risk and I know that many local businesses were celebrating that the vote had been pulled. What I find particularly concerning is how it was that a council-led plan could fail so dramatically over what appears to have been a relatively fundamental and basic oversight!

We shall see what the next step is with this plan for the council, however with Medway having 1,573 long term vacant properties compared to 6,798 for the whole of Kent it is positive to hear how the No Use Empty homes scheme is expanding out into the Medway.

The programme is delivered by KCC in partnership with all 12 district councils in the county and Medway has now joined as the council seek to address the urgent need for housing.

I’ve seen a huge increase in tenant enquiries over the past couple of months (by far above the usual average for this time of year) and this scheme will no doubt play its part in helping provide much needed additional housing.

The exciting thing is that this scheme can be accessed by developers! Here are a few key facts about the scheme that I hope you will find helpful:

• Persons and companies can apply for a loan if they already own an empty property or are considering buying an empty property
• Loans can be made available for properties that have been empty for at least six months or more
• The maximum amount loan you can apply for is £25,000 per property or unit, up to a total maximum of £175,000
• Loans are secured over 2-3 years and interest-free. Works must be carried out within a given timeframe

I have called to find out when the scheme will be accessible within Medway and it is now available. In addition, the funding can be used to support the development of an HMO!

I will keep a check back on this to see properties that have been developed in the Medway Towns using funding from the scheme. There is also plenty more info as well as how to access the scheme on the No Empty Homes website.

As usual, I trust you found this article helpful and remember that you can book an in-depth two-hour discovery session for £249 here.

Other than this, the best way to reach me is by messaging me on LinkedIn.

Hasan