More than 200,000 houses worth over £43 billion are lying empty in England

Over 200,000 houses worth more than £43 billion have been lying empty for longer than six months in England, according to new government figures.

The figures showed that outside of London Birmingham was the worst affected area, with 4,397 properties sitting empty worth an estimated £956 million.

Bradford had the second highest figure at 3,944 properties, followed by Liverpool on 3,449.

In London there were 19,845 homes sitting idle for over six months in 2016, worth £9.4 billion based on the average price in the capital of £474,704.

Kensington & Chelsea has London’s highest number of long-term vacant homes with 1,399 empty, up 8.5% on last year and a rise of 22.7% in a decade. Taking into account the Royal Borough’s unusually high average property prices, this would give the homes an estimated value of £2 billion.

Croydon came in second place with 1,216 empty properties worth £577 million.

Blackburn has seen the biggest rise outside London with a 32% rise in a year with 1,563 vacant homes.

Meanwhile, Blackpool achieved the greatest percentage reduction outside London, falling 26% in a year.

Property Partner analysed the latest data from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), looking at long-term vacant dwellings in England between 2005 and 2016.

Over the last decade the number of long-term vacant homes in England has dropped 36.4% from 314,719 in 2006 but it has barely moved year-on-year, showing a drop of 35% in the decade to 2015.

The estimated value of empty property in England now stands at £43.5billion.

Dan Gandesha, CEO of Property Partner, said: “These figures lay bare the huge amount of housing stock lying empty across the country.

“Councils have had the power to apply to seize empty homes since 2006 and huge advances have been made over the last ten years. Our research shows there is some great work being done in areas where the number of empty homes is coming down rapidly, such as Blackpool and Harrow.

“Dealing with this issue represents a fantastic opportunity to free up supply and help alleviate the scarcity of affordable housing nationally.

“We’d like to see the trend of the last decade continue, particularly where prices and demand are highest. That’s why it is a concern that in London 14 of 33 boroughs saw an increase in empty homes compared with the previous year.

“It would be encouraging to see that number reduce over the course of 2017, particularly when you consider that in and around London, some of the poorest workers are being pushed towards spending more than 40% of their income on rent.

“Tackling empty homes is one of the ways Britain can fix its broken housing market.”

Helen Williams, director of empty homes-the national campaigning charity, said: “With the latest government data recording around 200,000 long-term empty homes in England these is still much to be done to ensure best use is made of existing homes, alongside building new homes – both should go hand-in-hand to meet housing needs.”

Number of homes lying empty

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