Two members of the Empty Homes Team at Caerphilly County Borough Council have been recognised at this year’s national Empty Homes Network Awards.
Jamie Wagenaar received the Rising Star Award in recognition of his dedicated approach, positive attitude, and awareness of the positive difference his work makes to local communities.
Oliver Denton was highly commended in the Empty Homes Practitioner of the Year category for his dedication and tenaciousness to progress the most difficult cases in the Caerphilly borough to resolution.
Jamie and Oliver work as part of the team responsible for tackling the issue of empty privately owned homes in the borough. During its first year of operation the team has successfully returned over 100 empty homes back into beneficial use: the highest to date for Caerphilly Council. The approach used by the team has also been cited as best practice by Welsh Government.
Cllr Shayne Cook, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said “As well as being a blight in our local communities, empty homes also represent a wasted resource, particularly during the current national housing crisis. This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to congratulate Jamie and Oliver on their award success and thank everyone responsible for the significant efforts made in tackling this key issue.”
