Seminar 4: 8 October 2013
Empty Homes in Japan
Yoshinobu Kikuchi
Yoshinobu Kikuchi, a Visiting Fellow from Japan, was one of the main speakers at the fourth Housing and Communities Research Network Seminar. He is based at the University of Fakui and will be spending his time in the UK working on the Empty Homes project.
Today, 13% of all houses are empty in Japan and some regions have more empty homes. It's 18% in Fukui City where I live, for example. Empty homes are becoming a problem all over the country."
Mr Kikuchi also said that the population has been gradually decreasing since 2008, the ageing of population has been progressing and the unemployment rate of young people has risen.
- How are we able to deal with empty properties effectively in such a situation?
- How are the local communities activated to maintain their living environment?
- What are the success factors of the Empty Homes Projects in England?
- How relevant are they to Japan?
Evaluating Empty Homes Community Grant Programme in the English Midlands
Halima Sacranie
Honorary Research Fellow, Halima Sacranie, spoke about the Evaluation of Empty Homes Community Grant Programme in the English Midlands.
The Empty Homes Community Grant Programme (EHCGP) was initiated in 2012, providing capital investment of £30 million to community-led groups to help them bring empty or derelict properties back into use. This presentation reported back on findings from the six case studies conducted in the Midlands for Building and Social Housing Foundation. The case studies considered the motivations, scale and scope of organisations in the Midlands, and reflect on the barriers and enablers encountered by these community-led projects. Of particular interest are the wider community benefits of the programme and impacts of participation on the sustainability and mission of the organisations themselves.