Report empty homes and we'll revamp them
Hull City Council has launched the appeal as part of national Empty Homes Week.
Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, who leads on housing at the authority, said the city had "a high level of housing need".
But there were 4,767 private homes known to be empty, with 1,963 of them out of use for six months or more.
"Empty – usually dilapidated – properties deprive people of much-needed homes," Drake-Davis said.
"They also have a negative effect on neighbourhoods, making them look uncared for and can encourage anti-social behaviour and rodent infestations."
He said the council would do "everything within our power" to bring homes back into use and called on residents to help by offering their "local knowledge".
According to the council, an empty home can be reported on the authority's website. It will then be checked and boarded up, with rubbish cleared and any water leaks stopped.
The owner will be contacted to discuss the next steps, which could include a sale to a private landlord, an agreement allowing the council to rent it out, or acquisition by the council.
A spokesperson for the authority said it was "retrofitting" empty properties to be "more energy efficient and healthier".
One example of this work was in De Grey Street, where a row of flats and houses was being brought back into use by contractor Kingston Works Limited.
Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Hull City Council
Views sought on plan for new homes in Hull
Housebuilding plan approved by city council
More than 200 homes approved for Hull
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Head of top Welsh independent school steps down after more than 30 years
The headteacher of one of Wales' best known and oldest independent schools has retired after 33 years. Sally Davis said she shed tears as she left Howell's School in Llandaff where she has spent half her life. Over more than three decades at the school Sally, 66, saw Howell's transform from an all-girls boarding school to a day school admitting boys. During her career Sally, who grew up in Newport, navigated huge social changes from social media to the effects of the pandemic and smartphones on teaching and the lives of her pupils and staff. You can read more about results at Wales' independent schools here READ MORE: Welsh exam board gave 1,500 students the wrong GCSE grades READ MORE: Schools don't do enough to tell pupils about an alternative form of education The former geography teacher came to Howell's aged 33 after 10 years teaching in tough inner city comprehensive schools in London where she was also deputy head of a state technology college. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here. Arriving at the fee charging school as deputy head Sally only ever intended to stay for a few years but said "Howell's gets into your bones - it's like a family". She has been headteacher of the now 600-pupil school for 17 years. Sally, whose father was a butcher, attended Bassaleg Comprehensive before heading to Bedford College, London University, telling her parents: "I won't be back from the bright lights of London." But as time went on she said "hireath" called her home to Wales and she applied for the job at Howell's with no experience of fee-paying independent schools. "It was a culture shock arriving at Howell's. It was fabulous but very different and new. "I arrived and it was just a joy to teach because in London it had been all about behaviour control. "I thought I would stay two years or so at Howell's but it gets into your bones - the buildings and people are fantastic." When Sally arrived at the 165-year-old school in Llandaff it had around 700 pupils, all girls, 15 of whom were boarders. Since then it has become a day school only, began admitting boys into the sixth form 20 years ago and opened a nursery, reception and year one class. Other social changes meant after school provision was also introduced and sixth formers no longer have to wear uniforms. Many of the Howell's parent are key workers and during the pandemic the school remained open as well as running online remote lessons. Sally came in every day during Covid and said, despite the dark times of the pandemic, the school community pulled together. The need to rapidly go online transformed teaching for the better in some ways meaning that remote learning can still be accessed if people cannot come in owing to illness or bad weather. Equally, social media and smartphones had pros and cons, she says. Smartphones are banned up to sixth form with pupils told to store them in specially locked pouches during the day. But access to the internet has also helped teaching and learning, she said. During her last year in charge at Howell's Sally, who is married with children and grandchildren, had to deal with the impact of VAT charges on school fees. She said Howell's is lucky that as part of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) – a group of 26 schools – it benefits from the scale, resources, and efficiencies of a larger network. That meant Howell's managed to mitigate the full financial impact of the tax change. It increased fees, inclusive of VAT, by 12% in January this year, while absorbing the remaining 8% the government charges. The effects of VAT on private schools. From September fees will rise by 2.95% but Sally points out it took other measures to cushion costs for families such as providing free pre and after school care. The school also funds various bursaries and scholarships which she is proud of. Howell's was established in 1860 at the bequest of Thomas Howell, a Welsh merchant trading in Bristol, London and Seville, who willed 12,000 gold ducats to the Drapers' Company to provide dowries "every yere for Maydens for ever" and those funds are still used towards bursaries and scholarships . After her own education and working the first 10 years of her career in the state sector, Sally is aware that some people feel fee paying education is divisive, but she believes independent schools do have an important place in society and education. And after so long at the school she is sorry to go but wanted to leave while she still loved it. "I have always found teaching exciting. Technology advances during my time as a teacher has had benefits. "During my time at Howell's I always wanted to go in and was never bored. "It was a tough decision to retire. I have been half my life here. I was 66 in July. "But the time to leave is when you are still enjoying the party. "It is an emotional thing to leave a school. It sounds corny but Howell's is like a family. "Teachers change lives and it is a privilege to teach. "I did shed a tear when i left, there is no doubt about it." Sally will be back briefly on exam results days later this month. After that she is looking forward to spending more time with her husband Julian, who works at St David's College in Cardiff, their two adopted grown up children and their grandchildren. Laura Beynon will succeed Sally when term starts in is currently senior deputy head of Redmaids' High School, an independent school for girls in Bristol. She is also a geographer and studied geography at Durham University and a PGCE at Cambridge.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
City recycles 75% of glass after bin change
Households in Leeds have recycled 12,000 tonnes of glass since a new collection service began a year ago. Residents have been able to put glass in their green bins since 1 August 2024, as part of Leeds City Council's plan to cut carbon emissions. The authority said the glass recycling levels in the city had increased from 48% to 75% in the first 12 months of the programme, saving 464 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Glass is then sorted at a Leeds plant and re-melted at Yorkshire facilities to produce new bottles and jars, ready for reuse within a month. However, the council has urged residents to recycle even more glass in their green bins, as 25% of all glass is still being put in black bins, according to a spokesperson for the authority. There are also 700 glass recycling banks around the city, which can hold up to 3,000 bottles and jars. Executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space Mohammed Rafique said: "The first year of household glass collections has been a big success so we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone in Leeds for their efforts. "Let's all work together to make the second year of glass collections even more successful than the first, to help the environment and the Yorkshire economy so that everyone wins." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Related Internet links Leeds City Council More on this story City introduces glass recycling in green bins
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Yahoo
Eight World War One pillboxes are Grade II listed
A rare semi-circular bunker-like structure is among eight World War One pillboxes in Norfolk that have been granted Grade II listed status. The concrete buildings were built in Norfolk between 1916 and 1918, designed to protect a stretch of English coast from a potential German sea invasion, including the semi-circular one at Bacton Wood. They still have their original steel doors, gun loop shutters and white-painted interiors, according to Historic England. Its East of England regional director Tony Calladine said they were "a reminder of a time when determined communities prepared to defend Britain during the Great War". Listed buildings are buildings of special architectural or historic interest with legal protection. All but one of the newly-listed pillboxes are in the North Walsham area and they are: Two defending the Common Road and Bradfield Beck crossing point at Bradfield Common A rare semi-circular pillbox at Bacton Wood, guarding a canal bridge Two circular pillboxes at White Horse Common at the Edbridge Mill crossing Two either side of Bacton Road, Little London, defending the canal bridge The final pillbox is another circular one at Wayford Bridge, near Stalham. The pillboxes were positioned along the River Ant and the North Walsham & Dilham Canal - waterways that could provided further defence in The Broads. They are all slightly inland and were part of a network of pillboxes which were designed to "provide a barrier to invading enemy troops", said Mr Calladine. Pillboxes were generally camouflaged against the landscape to hide the occupants from enemy view. Most were installed with small holes in the walls called loopholes where weapons could be fired from. The first pillboxes were built by the German army on the Western Front, but as the threat of invasion increased in Britain, they began appearing along the east coast of. "The listing of these pillboxes recognises their historic significance and exceptional durability," Mr Calladine added. Historic England hopes people will add their photographs and drawings of the pillboxes and share their stories to its Missing Pieces Project. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story D-Day training pillbox converted into home for bats Former helter-skelter among new listed buildings Storms unearth sand-filled World War Two pillbox World War Two defences emerge from UK beach Related internet links Historic England
