ESEH newsletter

2ND EDITION – MARCH 2007

Opening message . . .
From Mick Johnston, ESEH Project Sponsor,
Communities and Local Government
Social Exclusion Unit Policy Action Team 18: Better Information ESEH
electronic survey of empty homes

highlighted the need for up-to-date statistics at neighbourhood

level. The lack of such information has been a problem, not just for
Central Government in developing its National Strategy for
Neighbourhood Renewal, but also for the local service providers Empty Homes
involved in implementing it. The Government also has a Public Cost Money
Service Agreement to improve the match between housing supply Empty Homes result in
and demand. Information on empty and second homes is a key Lost Revenue
factor in progressing both of these policy commitments. The
availability of standardised data on the number and location of
empty homes will also help local service providers to develop their
Empty Homes and Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies. Empty Homes are a
Visual Blight
Since 2003, Communities and Local Government has collected
ward level statistics on empty and second homes from LAs across Empty Homes
England based on the exemption and discount records in their Waste Resources
Council Tax administration systems. Each LA was required to
aggregate the exemptions and discounts that indicate whether a
dwelling is vacant or a second home. The results of these surveys
for 2003 through to 2006 will be published by the Office for Empty Homes are a
National Statistics later this year on the Neighbourhood Statistics Magnet for Anti-Social
website: www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Behaviour and Drug-
Related Crime
Users of these statistics do need to be aware that Council Tax
records are not a perfect indication of vacancies as they depend to
some extent on property owners applying for exemption or discount Get your Finger on the Pulse – trends in the number of
and there is always some lag in picking up changes of status. empty homes say a lot about a neighbourhood.
However used with discretion they are a valuable analytical resource.
Empty Homes need to be brought back into use: it’s a
CONTINUED OVERLEAF WIN FOR EVERYONE – a reduction in complaints gives you
Happier Citizens and Happier Staff.

Electronic Reporting Saves Effort - ESEH enables

Local Authorities to ease the burden of both the
annual vacant dwellings and CTB1 surveys.

Based on and using ideas and pictures by pupils of

St. Joseph’s RC Primary, Bromley
and Colfe’s Preparatory School, Lee

Photograph left: The ESEH team

OPENING MESSAGE – CONTINUED

Unfortunately this type of data collection has been a significant
burden both on LAs and on the Department so it has been
necessary to move to a less burdensome method. The new
system is called the Electronic Survey of Empty Homes (ESEH)
pronounced ‘Easy’. It will automatically extract the required data
from local authorities' Council Tax systems, put them into
standard XML format and upload them via the web to the
Department . . . ESEH . . .
If you have any queries, do feel free to contact the Department at
the following email address:
vacant.dwellings@communities.gsi.gov.uk

There is an old medical adage that the first step to a cure is knowing what the disease is. The adage works

Why bother?
for housing too. Empty homes are the symptom of many ills in the housing market; oversupply, low demand,
speculative investment. Conversely they can also be the sign of recovery as houses are left temporarily vacant
whilst being renovated, developed or sold. A good local authority in its role of strategic enabler in the housing
market can act as the doctor diagnosing what is wrong and, where necessary administering the medicine.

Better information on
empty homes will lead to
more effective strategies
for reducing the number
of them.
ESEH:
● Reduces the burden of the
vacant dwellings survey on
Local Authorities
● Eases the process of validation
on the Department
● Improves data quality
● Enables more timely production
of statistics
● Has the potential for producing
annual CTB return data
● Meets the Office for National
Statistics new standards for
●
geography
Facilitates the production of
statistics for any geographical
areas, including very small areas
● Standardises point data that
can be joined up with other
information such as tenure or
Council Tax band for analysis
● Identifies hotspots through
mapping on an Ordnance
Survey base
● Enables time series analysis at
very local level to identify areas
of rapid increase or reduction
in vacancy rates
● Enables cluster analysis
There are some great examples of local authorities doing just this
Birmingham City Council has seen a dramatic reduction in its empty
homes since it implemented its empty property strategy. Local authorities
in Kent have more than doubled their performance plus in Ipswich and
North London innovative new schemes have been introduced to help first
time buyers and key workers buy and renovate empty homes.
All of these successes have been possible because the local authority
diagnosed the disease first. Information and market intelligence is the
vital first step to success. ESEH can provide local authorities with new and
better information than they have had before. Allowing them to better
understand what is happening in their district and target the right
medicine to the right place.
David Ireland
Empty Homes Agency – March 2007
www.emptyhomes.com
ESEH Informs Strategic
Policy Decisions on
Vacant Dwellings
As the second largest Local Authority in England, Leeds obviously has a
great interest in being able to monitor the number of empty properties in
its housing stock. Identifying properties which have been empty for a long
period, or discovering ‘hotspots’ with many empty properties can play a
major part in the re-generation programme. The economic prosperity of
Leeds has led to an increase in the number of properties in the city
centre available for renting by young professionals. At the same time, the
increase in student fees has led to a greater number of students living
with their parents, potentially reducing demand for property in some
areas. Accurate information on both of these trends will be useful for
long-term policy decisions.
Graham Wilton
Principal Business Continuity Officer (Data)
Leeds City Council
Analytical insight . . .
All maps produced by Analytical Services, Communities and Local Government

The Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix data only allows a poor outline
of the vacancy rate, due to the higher level of geography. This map
highlights the need for lower level statistics due to the range of vacancy
rates in the legend (0% - 8%). Obviously there are areas of England that
have large problems with vacancy, but an 8% maximum is found at LA
level.

Vacancy rate at LA level for England

using NeSS General Demand Indicators
2005 dataset

London

© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved Licensee Number 100018986. 2007 0301

Bradford vacancy rate at Census Output Area

level 2006

At the same time, following on from a pilot with four LAs in

2004, 39 LAs submitted their returns using raw data at ward
level in csv format. This was further proof of the potential, as it
was possible to identify not just the locations with the highest
incidence of empty homes, but to analyse the types of dwelling
which were most often vacant.

In 2006 many local authorities provided raw point data instead

© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved Licensee Number 100018986. 2007 02010
of ward totals. This has enabled the Communities and
Local Government Analytical Services to carry out analysis
for areas much smaller than wards. The example below
is based on statistics for Census Output Areas which on
average contain about 125 dwellings. It highlights the sharp
differences in vacancy rates that can occur even in adjacent areas
of housing. The variation in size of areas reflects the varying
densities of population i.e. the large areas are very sparsely
populated. In some residential areas, striking contrasts can also
be seen between neighbouring areas.
Bradford vacancy rate at Census Output Area Bradford vacancy rate at Census Output Area
level 2006 on OS Base level 2006 on OS Base

This map is a zoomed-in version of the previous one, with an
Ordnance Survey Raster map underneath. It provides more
transparency in relation to trends in size and age of property; plus
location to make it easier to identify the areas that require
targeting.
The same area with a MasterMap background allows each
dwelling to be viewed as a separate piece of information,
although distinguishing between types of land becomes difficult.

Change in Bradford vacancy rate (%)

by ward 2004 to 2005

The Department is looking at various ways of analysing

the data to inform decision making. One of these is
to show the increases or decreases from year to year
in the percentage of dwellings that are vacant - red
indicates the change in vacancy rate between
April 2004 and April 2005; the darker the red
the larger the change.

Although this example is at ward level it shows how

neighbouring areas can show quite different trends and in
some cases opposite trends. i.e. an area with increasing vacancy
rates next to an area with declining vacancy rates.

© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved Licensee Number 100018986. 2007

 Focus on Second Homes
East Devon Second Homes by
Census Output Area (2006)

Second homes are a particularly grey area

in vacancy data. In East Devon, both long
term empty and second home discounts
are 0% and hence there’s less likelihood of
bias in selection. As East Devon has a long
coastline the proportion of second homes
on the coast is large, as one would expect.
However, the output area level map of East
Devon (left) enables a focus on hot spots.
It reveals some of the top proportions of
second homes are on the A30 and A35 –
not where one might have expected to
find them.

Leeds City Centre Second Homes by Census Southwark Total Vacant and Second Homes by
Output Area (2006) Census Output Area (2006)

Analysis at output area level reveals a high level of vacancy along

the river at Southwark in London. The first map (above) shows
both vacant and second homes close to the riverside, but the
subsequent one reveals a significant proportion of these are
actually second homes

Southwark Second Homes only by Census

Output Area (2006)

In Leeds, many of the highest proportions of second homes

are found in the City Centre, as outlined in blue on the map
(above). However, there is a possibility of bias as second homes
in Leeds have a discount percentage of 10%, whereas there’s
no discount available for long term empty homes. This makes it
more favourable for property owner to opt for a second home
discount if they have a choice.
 Pilot LAs Viewpoints
Teignbridge DC plans to use Empty Homes data as a
key component of the Exeter and Torbay Strategic
Housing Market Assessment (HMA).
Working in partnership with four other District Councils,
Dartmoor National Park and Devon County Council,
Teignbridge is assessing current and likely future trends in
housing supply and demand, taking into account factors
such as changes to the local economy, education, care and
support needs, transport, employment and services.
“ The HMA will, in turn, be vital evidence that
will inform the Council’s Local Development
Framework (and thence the Regional Spatial
Strategy) for planning the provision, make-up
and location of housing (and affordable housing
in particular) for the future. In a booming area
of high demand, a good understanding of the
breakdown of, and trends in Empty Homes will
inform understanding about more than just
supply and availability
” time with no additional work.
● Can we identify the extent to which locals can access
first time homes?
● Is there an impact on the sustainability of rural
communities?
● Are there particular segments of the population whose
housing needs are affected by, for example, weekend
commuting?
Dick Scott
Environmental Health and Housing
Teignbridge DC
Hertsmere Case
Study
In my capacity as Revenues Manager for Hertsmere
Borough Council, I can testify to the drawbacks of the data
submission methods for the Vacant Dwellings Surveys
(VDS) since 2003. The extraction to spreadsheet of
aggregated council tax data using provided postcode-to-
ward look-up files was time-consuming and involved large
degrees of manual intervention.
Hertsmere, in partnership with Communities and Local
Government and our council tax collection software
supplier, Civica UK Ltd, was delighted to be involved in the
testing of the newly developed ESEH XML schema. This
has involved the in-system mapping of the vacant
dwellings data from our council tax records to the required
XML format. In one fell swoop this has replaced what had
formerly been a longwinded method of data submission to
an embedded process which directly interrogates our
software and is thereafter capable of being re-run at any
The benefits of such data extraction are immediate and
manifold assisting, not only in our completion of the 2007
VDS, but also in the submission of our annual statutory
CTB1 return. Using the XML schema’s capacity to compare
results of our data extractions over time will allow
Hertsmere to prioritise its housing policies more effectively
across the Borough, and better realise the targets and
objectives laid down in our Community Strategy.
Using the discretionary powers laid down in the Local
Government Act 2003, Hertsmere, as with many other
authorities, resolved in 2004 to abolish the then existing
50% council tax discount allowed for second homes or
long-term empty properties. This was in support of local
initiatives to encourage more available housing in the
Borough. As a consequence, the loss in council tax
revenue from these previously discounted dwellings
was effectively removed, since long-term empty
properties now attract a standard 100% charge,
together with a 90% charge for second homes.
It is, perhaps, doubly incumbent upon us now, therefore,
to continue to ensure that our database records of empty
dwellings remains as accurate as is possible,
notwithstanding the offsetting of the revenue loss, both
for purposes of council tax registration and liability, and
also for those other service departments (especially
Housing) that rely upon the accuracy of our information.
Stephen Smith
Revenues Manager
Hertsmere Borough Council
Suppliers
E S E H X M L S C H E M A R E L E A S E D I N J A N U A RY
The ESEH data standards consisting of a Field Definitions document and the XML schema (v2.2) have now
been signed off, following testing in December on a full data set provided by Leeds. This final version
was released in January and issued to all local authorities and relevant software suppliers. The data
standards are open source and can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501015
The design for the schema follows the eGovernment Schema Guidelines for XML and makes use of the
architectural schemas available through GovTalk, in particular the BS7666 Address Schema.

Software Suppliers Key Role in Implementing ESEH the Department attended the Civica Users
Group in November and this was also very
Most local authorities use Council Tax over the last year and held a seminar for useful. To the best of our knowledge most
management systems provided by them in May. They were consulted on the software suppliers are now actively working
commercial software suppliers. These first draft of the schema during the on their ESEH extract with a view to it
suppliers have a key role to play in summer. The Department is very grateful being available for their clients for the April
developing the data extract for ESEH. The for their useful input at that stage. 2007 data upload. The Department would
Department has been liaising with all Software suppliers then received the like to thank all software suppliers for their
known suppliers of Council Tax software second draft in September. By invitation, active support of the ESEH project.

Supplier Status @ March 2007 – unless otherwise indicated, please contact the respective company’s Help Desk.

Anite In development, with full release going out at the beginning of June, but a pre-release version will be
available from the end of April. This software will have the capability to extract data retrospectively

Capita ESEH extract program available to all Academy Ctax customers from the end of March 2007

Caps Solutions In development, and will be available for the April 2007 survey

Civica Module complete and available from mid-March

IBS Available from 22nd March

Northgate No firm release date at present, but it should be ready shortly. Further information obtainable from
cathryn.ella@northgate-is.com

Civica
Civica has recognised the potential
benefits of the new electronic version of
the empty homes survey. The Civica
Council Tax software has been developed
to be compatible with the ESEH XML
schema to reduce the administrative
burden of producing the required vacant
dwellings data. Further benefits will be
realised in the future when Communities
and Local Government incorporates the
CTB1 information into the same return.
Development has taken place in
consultation with Mick Johnston of the
ESEH team at Communities and Local
Government. A presentation was made to
our customers at the recent Civica user
group, which raised awareness of the
initiative and succeeded in recruiting
willing volunteers to carry out the final
testing. A double bonus!
Sean Higginbottom IRRV
Revenues Product Manager
Civica UK Limited
Northgate
Northgate’s customers recognise that
empty properties mean the under utilisation
of a valuable local resource as well as a
loss in council tax income. The provision of
this information goes someway to
addressing this important issue.
Northgate has significant experience in the
development of raw data extracts for such
central government statistical returns.
Our experience shows that it is essential to
involve our customers in the detailed data
mapping in order to ensure the accuracy
of the data extracted.
We will continue to work closely with our
customers and Communities and Local
Government because we understand the
social and financial importance of
determining and addressing the impact of
empty homes.
Cathryn Ella
Revenues and Benefits Product Manager
Northgate
PROGRESS TO DATE Release yourselves
 April 2005 11% of LAs provided raw data in CSV



April 2006 60% of LAs provided raw data in CSV from the burden of
July 2006 Draft ESEH XML schema published



December 2006 Schema tested
January 2007 Final Schema published
both the Annual
 March 2007 Most software suppliers have completed,
or are actively working on the ESEH XML data extract Vacant Dwellings
modules
 November 2007 Piloting of CTB data extract
and CTBI Surveys –
W H AT ’ S N E X T
Make it ESEH in 2007 – All local authorities received
How it’s done
notice of the April 2007 Empty Homes Survey in
January along with the ESEH data standards. Now is The XML Schema contains the rules which dictate the
the time to start gearing up for data submission form in which the data must be extracted from the LAs
using the automated ESEH XML raw data extract CTAX management system. Further information including
and upload. To make sure you get the benefit of XML data specifications can be found on the Department's
the reduced burden this year contact your software website at
supplier if you have not already done so. www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501015
(CSV option is still available for April 2007 returns, but ward Relevant elements are mapped, by LAs or their software
aggregate option is not). suppliers, from their location in their managment system to
the specified format in the XML schema. A facility to
ESEH at t-Gov EXPO Spring 2007 – If you are at the generate the required data extract report is then added to
t-Gov EXPO 2007 you will be able to find out more
the system.
about ESEH by coming along to our stand in the
exhibition hall. There will be a demonstration of The extract can then be run at any time with no
the analytical mapping of empty homes that is additional work.
possible with ESEH data. t-Gov EXPO is on at the
Submit data – this is done using the tried and tested
EXCeL Centre, London Docklands on 18th to 19th
INTERFORM already used by LAs for a variety of other
April 2007, EXCeL. For further details go to
statistical returns. When you are ready to upload your data
www.tgovseries.org.uk
please contact our helpdesk to get your logon details:
April 2008 – All vacant.dwellings@communities.gsi.gov.uk or 020 7944
LAs to use XML 3294.
for Empty Homes
Survey returns.

We thank you for your support

to reduce the number of empty
homes.

Marketing Services by:

Contact and other information:  Barry Tuckwood Associates
barry@tuckwood.co.uk
vacant.dwellings@communities.gsi.gov.uk
 Brenda Soars
Helpdesk 020 7944 3294 brenda@soarsandco.com
Web: www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501015  Design by: GMP Graphics Ltd
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