MORE and more empty houses are being brought back into use in Carmarthenshire.

The authority successfully dealt with 174 of them in 2017-18 and has increased the pace to 184 in just the first seven months of this financial year.

Councillor Linda Evans, executive board member for housing, said in comparison that only 59 empty houses were brought back into use in 2010.

She had been asked at full council by councillor Dorian Williams what progress the Plaid Cymru-led administration had made in delivering its 1,000-affordable home pledge, which was made in 2016.

“Decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this county,” said Cllr Williams. “Without a stable shelter, everything else can fall apart.”

Cllr Evans said the administration was on track to exceed its target, and that the council had provided nearly 550 affordable homes since 2016 by buying them in the private sector, bringing empty properties into use, managing private rental homes for landlords, and via new affordable homes built as part of large developments.

She predicted that these approaches would deliver a further 700 affordable properties over the next three years.

She added: “These do not include our plans to build new houses, but I can assure you these developments are going ahead.”

With this in mind, she said some 50 new rental homes would be built at  Garreglwyd, Pembrey, and Dylan, Bryn, Llanelli.

Cllr Evans also said that the authority’s arm’s-length company, Cartrefi Croeso Ltd, would build 500 houses at seven sites, including rural areas, over the next five years.

In addition, council officers are investigating the option of borrowing money to deliver more council houses following a relaxation of nationwide housing revenue account rules.

Cllr Evans said £25 million had been invested in these schemes since 2016, and that there was an employment boost as a result.

“We have, therefore, taken great steps,” she said.

She also urged people who had an empty property for more than six months, or knew someone who had, to get in touch with the council for advice.

“We’re all aware that having an empty house in a village or street is not pleasant to look at,” she said.

“It is possible to get a financial loan to get them back into use.”