Empty homes could house homeless, Tories say

The Conservatives have unveiled a plan to tackle social housing waiting lists by bringing empty homes back into use. Tory leader David Cameron pledged to make it easier for social landlords to use empty properties to house homeless families. Plans include ‘partially’ suspending the design and quality standard requirements while social tenants renting the homes would be given short-term tenancy agreements of between three and five years with an option to buy to enter into shared equity deals. There are an estimated one million empty homes across the UK.