A HOUSING association has beaten national guidelines for the lowest number of empty properties.

Coast & Country Housing, which covers the Tees Valley area, has only 30 empty properties to let - just 0.2 per cent of its total housing stock of 11,000. The national average is 2.6 per cent.

The Redcar-based company has reduced its void level, or the number of available properties, from 237 in March last year to 176 in March this year.

Of these 176 properties, 101 are to be demolished, 12 are waiting to be sold and 33 are undergoing renovation work before new tenants move in.

In addition, Coast & Country has shortened the time taken to get a property ready for use after a previous tenant has moved out.

The average turnaround of 24.5 days in March last year had been reduced to 18 days in March this year - considerably lower than the national average of 40 days.

The improvements have been made through extensive consultation with tenants.

A 'voids clinic', made up of tenants and Coast & Country staff, was set up last year to discuss ways of making savings and improving service.

Feedback highlighted a need to reduce the number of empty properties and achieve a quicker turnaround time.

As a result of its achievements, the clinic won the company team of the year award at Coast & Country's annual awards ceremony last year.

Ronny Harris, housing operations director at Coast & Country, said: "The voids clinic has acted as a forum for tenants to raise their concerns and offer feedback.

"As a result, we have been able to devise a plan of action to address issues that make a real difference to our tenants' quality of life."