We were launched in November 2005 with the aim of helping to bring empty homes in East Kent back into use. No Use Empty is a collaboration between Kent County Council and local authority partners. The founding members of the initiative in East Kent are:

• Dover District Council
• Shepway District Council
• Swale District Council
• Thanet District Council

In 2008 the initiative was expanded to embrace the whole of Kent, welcoming the following new partners on board:

• Sevenoaks District Council
• Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council
• Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
• Ashford Borough Council
• Maidstone Borough Council
• Gravesham Borough Council
• Dartford Borough Council
• Canterbury City Council

There are currently around 6,000 empty properties across Kent, depriving people of a much needed home. The objective of the initiative is to raise awareness of the issues surrounding empty housing and the problems they cause to local communities, and to help bring them back into use.

No Use Empty will support the existing work carried out by the three local councils to tackle the problem, giving housing officers access to a wider group of resources, skills and experiences and engaging in a joined-up approach with Kent County Council and bordering districts to achieve improved results in returning properties back to use.

The initiative has been widely praised across the UK as a unique partnership between County and local councils, achieving tangible results by delivering a joined-up approach. In East Kent, over 400 properties have been brought back into use since the launch of the initiative, with dozens more properties in the pipeline.