England's empty home crisis is getting worse

A new study has revealed 605,891 homes were unoccupied in England last year and that a third of them are classed as long-term vacant, after being empty for more than six months.

Related topics:  Property
Warren Lewis
19th October 2018
Empty Home 111

Good Move conducted the study and found that Liverpool takes the crown for the most vacant properties, with a staggering 10,512 properties laying empty last year. The data comes despite efforts by Liverpool City Council to reduce the amount of vacant homes with a free matchmaking service to introduce buyers and sellers of empty homes, in a bid to bring more empty homes into use.

Birmingham follows closely behind, with 10,386 empty homes. The city famous for its Bullring accounts for 17 per cent of West Midlands’ total number of vacant homes.

The top five cities with the highest number of empty homes are:

City

Number of vacant homes (2017)

As a % of all housing

Liverpool

10,512

4.70%

Birmingham

10,386

2.40%

Leeds

10,263

3.00%

Durham

10,026

4.20%

Bradford

8,751

4.10%

Leeds has the third highest number of empty homes throughout the country, with 10,263 properties vacant. Leeds’ empty homes equates to 14% of Yorkshire and the Humber’s empty homes.

The North West has the most vacant properties, with 102,847 homes laying empty across the country, and 38% of those being vacant for longer than six months. Liverpool has the most empty homes in the North West, and the country as a whole, with 10,512 vacant properties in 2017.

Following closely behind the North West is the South East, with a staggering 86,693 vacant properties last year. Of the 86,000 empty homes, 29% of those are vacant for longer than six months.

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