Time to Tackle the 8,000 Empty Homes in Cornwall

9.45.55am GMT Wed 10th Feb 2010

Karen Gillard, the Prospective MP for South East Cornwall, has today called for action to tackle the 8,000 homes standing empty across Cornwall-with over 1100 in the Caradon area alone.

Karen Gillard said, "With thousands of people across Cornwall waiting for their first home it's a scandal that almost 8,000 homes are standing empty and unused. We need to bring them back into use to meet the real need in our community."

"The cost of bringing these homes back into use is just a fraction of the cost of new build yet the Government is sitting idly by while they fall into disrepair."

The Liberal Democrat candidate spoke out after her party set out national plans to bring a quarter of a million empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 new jobs.

Karen Gillard added, "This is one element of our economic stimulus package that will generate jobs and help Britain on its way to building a fair, sustainable economy."

At the moment there are over 760,000 empty properties across England which are no longer used as homes but can be brought back into use with some investment. People who own these homes will get a grant or a cheap loan to renovate them so they can be used: grants if the home is for social housing, loans for private use.

The plans form part of the economic stimulus package outlined as a core principle of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto. In the first year of the new Parliament, the party would redirect over £3.6bn of spending to create jobs and build up Britain's infrastructure. In the following years this money will be redirected to other Lib Dem spending priorities and reducing the structural deficit.