Campaigners call for action as over a quarter of a million homes long-term empty

28 November 2023 , 14:15

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Action on Empty Homes is calling for the government to create a national programme to tackle the housing crisis (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

More than a quarter of a million homes across England remain empty long-term, whilst another quarter are being treated as second homes, new data has revealed.

Campaigners have labelled the shocking figures as “a national disgrace” after Action on Empty Homes highlighted that 524,507 properties fall into the two categories, which is equivalent to one out of every 49 houses across the country.

Director of the organisation, Rebecca Moore, is calling for the government to take action in a bid to help struggling Brits who have been left in limbo with temporary accommodation. She highlighted the "intense housing crisis " that has continued to plague the country as she turned to the damming research.

The stark data showed that the amount of long-term empty homes, which is a property that has been vacant for over half a year, has soared by a staggering 5% from 248,633 in 2022 to 261,189 this year. Long-term homes are also defined as properties which do not have a statutory exemption from council tax.

Campaigners highlighted a huge amount of homes remain vacant long term across the country (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The number of second homes, meanwhile, has increased by 2% from 256,913 last year to 263,318 in 2023. These are properties that are unlived in but are fully furnished. They can include holiday lets like AirBnBs, as well as “buy-to-leave” properties, which are purchased as investments that are left unoccupied in the expectation that their value will rise. In some regions though, one in nine properties are either second homes or long-term empty, while in the City of London it’s one in four. There are a total of 7,976 homes in the City of London, the capital’s ‘Square Mile’ and the epicentre of the financial industry. Some 261 of those (just over 3%) are classed as being long-term empty, while 1,783 (just over 22%) are second homes. It means that 2,044 houses (26%) in the City are either second or long-term empty homes. That’s the largest proportion of any local authority in England.

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North Norfolk has the next highest percentage of second homes in the country at 10%. Another 1% of homes there are classed as being long-term empty, which means one out of every nine properties in the area is either a second home or empty. One out of every nine homes in Kensington and Chelsea are also either long-term empty or second homes, as are those in the Isles of Scilly. The number of empty homes has increased in every region of the country compared to last year. Rebecca continued: “It beggars belief that while children are growing up sharing beds in temporary accommodation, our nation has over a quarter of a million homes sitting empty. To say this is a national disgrace is a profound understatement.

“After more than a decade of intense housing crisis, it is shocking to see long-term empty homes in England rise to over 261,000 – another 12,500 more wasted empties, while nearly 100,000 families are trapped in Temporary Accommodation, costing the nation over £1.7 billion pounds a year.” She added: "A new national empty homes programme is long overdue – the government needs to step up to the plate and offer funding and incentives to get these homes back into use. Long-term empties are a huge missed opportunity to invest in green retrofit and create new jobs. Action on Empty Homes calls on Government to introduce a new national empty homes programme to create additional housing supply for those in most housing need, utilising properties currently left vacant or in need of renovation.”

Monica Charsley