Half A Million Properties Lie Empty

A recent investigation by the Guardian has discovered that an astounding 500,000 properties across the UK have currently been lying empty for more than 6 months – a figure that could easily dent the growing property shortage.

As it stands, more than 1.8 million households are currently waiting for a council house. Yet as the Empty Homes Agency quickly pointed out by simply utilising these empty properties they could easily help to alleviate the problem and house at least 25% of those waiting to be homed…


In their study, the Guardian utilised the Freedom of Information Act to discover that across 274 councils in London alone, the number of empty properties is 30 times higher than official figures suggest.

However, property advisors are still sceptical about the accuracy of this figure claiming that it could be even higher if you take into consideration the number of second homes and regeneration projects which have been put on hold.

Many regeneration projects have resulted in a large number of property investments remaining empty as property owners were forced to move out of housing estates. Similarly, a number of private sector property developments have purposefully been left uncompleted to avoid incurring council tax.

Examining these figures it is obvious that the government needs to change tactics…

Currently focussed on housing property owners using new property builds, property advisors are calling upon the government to recognise the need to utilise these empty property investments now instead of leaving them barren.

However, this may be more complicated than anticipated. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for every empty property that is brought back into use, the council sees a reduction in its annual central government grants, meaning many councils’ are now preferring to keep these properties empty on purpose. By keeping them empty they can experience the security of a guaranteed government grant rather than rely on the less reliable income of council tax from a refurbished property.

Yet even despite this resistance from councils to bring these properties into use, it is undeniable that they could easily help to cut the council house waiting list by 25%. Hopefully the government will see sense…

Original Article