Enough with the empty houses while people are sleeping rough!

I saw a family yesterday, two young kids, shivering outside the old Boots on Royal Avenue. They’d been moved on by the council twice already that day. It breaks your heart. Meanwhile, I know of at least three houses on my street alone that have been empty for over a year, boarded up, gardens overgrown. One of them is owned by an investor who lives in Dubai, apparently. It’s not right.

We need a much tougher stance on long-term vacant properties. The current system just isn’t working. We should be introducing much steeper council tax penalties for properties left empty for more than six months, and that money should be ring-fenced for homelessness initiatives and building genuinely affordable social housing. It’s not just about punishing owners; it’s about incentivising them to sell or rent them out properly, or at least contribute meaningfully to the community they’re neglecting.