With diminishing Government funding and increasing customer expectations, it's ever more important for local authorities to go from empty to plenty in innovative ways.

The issues of supply and building of affordable homes are never far from the national and local debate and bringing empty homes back into availability provides an opportunity to address this. Teignbridge is using its business leverage to address the challenge of empty homes.

This year we've reduced the number of empty properties to 385 – 13 less than this time in 2012 – and an overall reduction of 156 since 2009.

Opportunity knocks when funding streams are identified.  We were one of ten South West authorities to gain Homes and Communities Agency Empty Homes Programme funding to bring 20 empty units back into use as affordable properties.

One secret of success is sharing information and expertise, adopting a corporate ‘whole house' approach by bringing housing, environmental health and planning colleagues together.

It's all about how we assist, incentivise and enforce.  Signposting landlords to advice, council-run training events and open days, loans, grants and providing a tenant-matching service are helping ensure success with long-term tenancy agreements.

We created a landlord liaison officer role to assist inexperienced and incidental owners.  Training and open events have become hugely popular with one open evening attracting 150 attendees.

We found that up-to-date council tax information is vital to empty homes work, funding, actions and joint working.

Assistance and incentivising landlords with friendly engagement often wins the day but occasionally, a tougher approach is required to reach a solution.

Justifying enforcement is a balance but should not be a blockage.  The enforcement smoking gun encourages dialogue with the potential to avoid the need for service of a formal notice.

The end game is worth playing. In Teignbridge we matched a severely disabled couple facing homelessness to a partially adapted bungalow.  One vulnerable owner inherited seven properties, some of which had been unoccupied for 13 years.

Advice and help was given to find an architect and refurbish the units.  Four have been refurbished, sold and reoccupied, two are on the market for sale and planning permission is being sought for the seventh.

A happy ending for people helped into homes that suit their needs.

Nicola Bulbeck is chief executive of Teignbridge DC