A THOUSAND homes in Harrow are being left to stand empty while more than four times as many people wait for housing on the council's register.

And at present there are more than 4,840 people on the council's housing register.

The worst example in Harrow was a property left empty for more than 20 years until the owner was recently forced to bring it back into habitable use.

Harrow Council is offering a grant of up to £30,000 to help owners bring long-term empty homes back into use.

Reasons why properties remain empty for long periods of time include contested wills, no next of kin once the owner is deceased and lack of funds to bring a home back into use.

A more cynical ploy is letting a property sit empty and accrue in value.

Cllr Camilla Bath, portfolio holder for housing, said: "Harrow, like so many other local authorities, has a shortage of social housing and has to use every means at its disposal to bridge the gap.

"We simply can't afford to leave so many privately owned properties empty and want to work in partnership with owners who have a genuine reason for not bringing their homes up to a habitable standard.

"Ideally, we would provide a grant and then find a tenant for the property from our housing register. We would guarantee a rental income for a fixed period providing the owners with income while easing pressure on our housing waiting list."

There are now enforcement powers, which the council can take in these circumstances such as serving a compulsory purchase order.

This allows the council to serve an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) which enables it to gain ownership of a property if an owner repeatedly refuses all attempts to bring it back into use.

There are an estimated 650,000 empty properties in the UK - nearly 80 per cent of which are privately owned.

Anyone who suspects a property is empty can contact Nick Caprara on 020 8424 1096. Alternatively, anyone needing help to bring a property back into use can call Nick or email empty.homes@harrow.gov.uk