This week, Dorset Council is raising awareness of the need to tackle the problem of long-term empty properties.

Monday, September 23 to Sunday, September 29 is Empty Homes Week, which aims to raise awareness for the issue of long-term empty homes. The council is working to highlight this issue alongside the Empty Homes Network, and it will use this week to point out the problem and give people examples of some homes that have been empty for a long time and are now back in use.

Cllr Graham Carr Jones, the council’s Housing Portfolio Holder said: "It’s difficult to understand why some properties are left empty for long periods of time, often getting into a state of disrepair when they could be providing an income to their owner and much needed accommodation to people living in Dorset.

"If you know of a property that has been left empty for a long time, let the council know about it by registering it on the website www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/emptyhomes"

The council says that properties can end up being left empty for various reasons, with there being an estimated 600 long-term empty properties in the county.

To help deal with the issue, Dorset Council is offering advice, guidance and financial assistance to people who own empty properties. This work is intended to help the owners bring their properties back into use.

They also have a leasing scheme, in which the council takes on management of such a property and rents it to local people with housing needs.

The Empty Homes Network is an organisation that helps raise awareness and supports efforts to deal with the issue of empty properties.

It is the successor of the National Association of Empty Property Practitioners (NAEPP). The NAEPP was formed in 2001 with support from the government, the Housing Corporation and the Empty Homes Agency.

It describes its key aim as being to help people working to bring empty properties back into use.

For more information about the organisation, visit www.ehnetwork.org.uk