Empty Homes are on The Rise
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Empty homes are on the rise. So why aren’t they being used to solve the housing lack?
In 1980, when Corina... Xem thêm
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Empty homes are on the rise. So why aren’t they being used to solve the housing lack?
In 1980, when Corina Poore, 36 years of ages and pregnant, first unlocked to a run-down home in New Cross Gate, south-east London, the estate agent refused to action in with her.
Inside were dead cats, pet dog excrement and filthy bed mattress. Pigeons flew in through holes in the roofing system and there was no indoor toilet. The intense rotting odor was frustrating.
Still, Corina decided this was her dream home. It was roomy, the ₤ 24,000 rate was cost effective and she made sure that everything was fixable.
After taking out a mortgage, she got a grant of ₤ 3,500 from Lewisham council, her regional authority, which paid for fixing the ceiling.
“At that point, ₤ 3,500 was rather a healthy quantity, which I frantically needed,” remembers Corina.
Some 45 years on, her Victorian four-storey house is worth roughly ₤ 1m – something Corina, a semi-retired movie and TV critic who got in touch through Your Voice, Your BBC News, could never have managed otherwise.
However, times have changed.
Lewisham Council has actually continued to use grants to the owners of empty homes for enhancements – some for as much as ₤ 20,000 – however the uptake is low.
Just 22 grants were awarded in the district in the last five years – despite it having 2,253 empty homes. A representative for Lewisham Council stated that, in addition to the grants, it is working “to make certain homes aren’t allowed to remain empty or end up being derelict in our borough”.
At present, nevertheless, 775 have been empty for longer than 6 months. Meanwhile, there is a nationwide housing scarcity, with rising homelessness and long social housing waiting lists.
Since October 2024, there were practically 720,000 empty homes in England, according to the federal government.
On the face of it, bringing these empty residential or commercial properties back into use would make up a considerable piece of the 1.5 m homes that the Labour federal government wants to contribute to the nation’s housing stock by the end of its term.
But so far that isn’t occurring enough. The concern is why, and offered it could, in theory, be a sensible service to two growing problems, is this a case of a missed opportunity – or is the concern more complicated still?
Rising long-lasting empty homes
Not all empty homes remain in the alarming state of repair that Corina’s as soon as was. But roughly 265,000 of them in England have actually been vacant for longer than six months and are categorized by the federal government as long-term empty (LTE). (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different housing policies, as housing is a devolved matter in the UK.)
Fixing these would also have a considerable effect on the neighborhoods around them, as long-lasting empty residential or commercial properties can bring in anti-social behaviour and in many cases decrease a location’s worth.
Ann Devereaux, of St Werburgh’s in Bristol, states that after the residential or commercial property beside her home fell uninhabited, it became a “magnet” for criminal offense.
“It makes me feel afraid when I leave my house or can be found in at night,” she added.
The government has previously stepped in. The 2010-15 Coalition made funding available via 2 plans: the Empty Homes Programme, which provided owners grants to repair their long-lasting empty homes; and the New Homes Bonus scheme, which rewarded councils that brought such residential or commercial properties back into usage.
They appeared to have made an effect. Between 2010 and 2016, the general number of empty homes stopped by 20% to 590,000, and crucially, long-term empty homes visited 33% to 200,000.
However, in 2016 the government then ended the Empty Homes Programme and reduced the rewards from the New Homes Bonus scheme – after which the concern ended up being the sole duty of councils.
By 2024, the number of empty homes had sneaked back up by 22% and the number of LTEs had actually increased 32%.
A report by the charity Action on Empty Homes concluded it was “likely” that the end of the Coalition’s scheme had actually been a factor behind this boost, along with changing housing market conditions and financial unpredictability.
And when it was left up to regional authorities to choose what to do about empty homes, the technique varied extensively from place to location.
Councils got creative – but had a hard time to fix it
Currently there is no centralised information about the actions specific English councils have taken because 2016, so we contacted each one to inquire about their method.
In total, 77 of the 245 councils who responded to the BBC’s flexibility of details requests said they continued offering grants or loans. But most of the times, take-up was so low that it didn’t avoid the variety of long-term empty homes from rising.
A few councils even ended their financial support schemes since of this.
Corina Poore recommends that people might not understand such schemes even exist.
But Benjamin Radstone, a residential or commercial property designer who partners with the general public to identify empty homes, states there is a series of reasons owners don’t use up offers and incentives around empty homes.
“People don’t desire to be pressured,” he says. “They’ll do it when they’re prepared to do it.”
Other councils have had some success with schemes of their own. In Kent, a No Use Empty scheme provides interest-free loans for up to three years to owners who will let or offer the residential or commercial property later on.
Though it was established twenty years ago with a fairly modest pot of ₤ 5m, today it is self-sustaining. Nearly 200 of these loans have been released over the previous 5 years.
Now the council wishes to see the scheme broadened nationally. Last year a group of MPs, peers and housing advocates wrote to housing minister Matthew Pennycook advising him to implement it across the country.
Elsewhere in England, some councils have actually tried more imaginative options, such as linking personal investors with empty property owners. Almost all councils charge premium council tax rates on long-lasting empty homes, which can be as much as 300% of basic council tax rates.
But Mr Radstone, who refurbishes empty homes through his business You Spot Residential or commercial property, argues, that this can “push people away from wanting to engage with the council”.
Some also argue that this can disincentivise councils from addressing the root problem, as empty homes bring them more income through the exceptional tax rates.
“We’re now in a position where councils are really saying, ‘Well, we’re being rewarded for homes being left empty longer,'” says Adam Cliff, policy lead at the Empty Homes Network.
Councils do also have the power to take legal action against owners of empty homes, but this can be dangerous, lengthy and costly.
And while loans and grants can be utilized to target about 10-20% of long-term empty homes, Mr Cliff approximates, you would require to make usage of other procedures to get most of them back into use, he states.
This was the experience of Kent County Council, which says only 18% of its LTEs that were restored into usage did so after interest-free loans were issued. In truth 61% did so after guidance was provided to owners around the similarity tax and VAT, raising financing and planning.
“If a council has 2,000 empty homes,” Mr Cliff states, “they require 2,000 different services.”
A baffling quandary
Part of the dilemma about there being a quarter of a million long-lasting empty homes is that this comes at a time when a minimum of 354,000 people in England are believed to be homeless, and 1.33 m homes are on social housing waiting lists.
This is likewise a time when and purchasers alike talk about a housing crisis in which skyrocketing costs leave residential or commercial properties out of reach.
The Office for National Statistics’ meaning of affordability is homes selling for less than five times regional revenues – which has not held true on average nationally because 2002.
More homes on the marketplace would help tackle this, too. So why has more not been done to fix, or a minimum of better address, this contradiction?
The difficulty is that there is no single reason for homes being empty.
One element is the probate system, which can in some cases take numerous years, throughout which time the deceased individual’s home can not be offered. Katie Watson from probate research study company Finders International, believes increasing staff numbers could assist attend to a court backlog.
Then there is the problem that often, councils are not able to find the owners of empty homes. Jasmine Basran, head of policy and projects at homeless charity Crisis, believes there is a “absence of coherent data”.
When the BBC approached English councils, the details we were offered about the condition and factor for homes being empty covered only around 13% of their LTE stock.
This suggests councils are “blind to their potential”, argues Ms Basran.
The debate around premium tax rates
The specialists we spoke with had their own view on the very best solutions. For Mr Radstone, it is through offering tax relief to purchasers, as well as guaranteeing that everyone who secures a mortgage keeps a current will to avoid probate hold-ups.
Mr Grimshaw, on the other hand, argues that the funds collected from the superior tax rates might be utilized by councils to start their own loan schemes.
But Mr Cliff argues councils without an empty homes strategy must not be allowed to charge premiums.
One thing the majority of those I spoke with were unanimous on, however, was that the government needs to develop a statutory task for councils to resolve long-term empty homes – and require them to investigate and act.
The previous Conservative government didn’t present this – although in March 2024 it did enable councils to double council tax on empty residential or commercial properties after 12 months rather than 2 years.
This was part of a “long-term prepare for housing” to “assist offer regional individuals the homes they need”, then local government minister Simon Hoare stated at the time.
We are yet to see if the new Labour federal government has actually taken the tip of a statutory duty on board in its housing technique, although Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has actually said councils will be offered more power to require property owners to rent empty homes.
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and City government stated: “We are identified to repair the housing crisis we have inherited, and we know that having a lot of empty homes in a location can have a significant influence on local neighborhoods.
“That’s why councils have strong powers to increase council tax on LTEs, and we will enhance councils’ powers to take control of the management of empty homes, with more updates to be supplied in due course.”
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Back in south-east London, Corina Poore doesn’t totally understand why the scheme that worked so well for her – and allowed her to end up being the property owner of a ₤ 1m residential or commercial property – isn’t doing the same today.
She believes it might still be a method of getting youths to make empty homes habitable too.
“When you’re young you can do these things,” says Corina.” [There are] individuals out there who would be prepared to do it.
“There are great deals of homes that are no place near as bad as mine that probably simply require a kitchen and a restroom, and I believe it should still be motivated really strongly.”
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