“It is a great shame that whilst we face a housing crisis, there are hundreds of thousands of historic buildings lying empty or under-used. This presents a real opportunity to tackle the chronic shortage of housing in this country.
Responding to a report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on protecting built heritage and creating homes by breathing new life into old buildings, Cllr Julie Jones-Evans, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Committee, said:
“It is a great shame that whilst we face a housing crisis, there are hundreds of thousands of historic buildings lying empty or under-used. This presents a real opportunity to tackle the chronic shortage of housing in this country.
“As discussed at the LGA’s Annual Conference last week, councils stand ready to work with government and partners to help bring these back into use and give thousands of families a home.
“The Committee is right to recognise the resourcing challenges and the need to tackle the shortage of skills in the heritage workforce. More investment in planning and conservation officers, particularly in rural and economically underperforming areas would allow local government to accelerate planning work.
“As the report identifies, funding for built heritage is fragmented. Aligning the different funding streams would also mean existing funding can go further and have more impact on communities.”