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England's empty homes scandal

New Halifax research shows that there were 288,763 empty private homes in England in April 2006...

To coincide with the Empty Homes National Week of Action (3^rd to 7^th December), new Halifax research shows that there were 288,763 empty private homes in England in April 2006, accounting for 1.6% of all privately owned dwellings in England.

This is the fourth annual Halifax survey of Empty Homes in England. The Empty Homes National Week of Action runs from December 3rd to 7th 2007. The research in this report is based on data from the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) and Halifax's own extensive housing database.

An “empty home” is defined as a property that has been vacant for more than six months.

Key findings

Fifteen local authorities (LAs) have a high proportion of empty homes. In these areas, at least 3.0% of the private dwelling stock is empty.  This is nearly double the English average of 1.6%.

There was a 19,675 fall in the number of empty homes between April 2003 and April 2006, reducing the total from 308,438 (1.8%) in April 2003. There was also a fall in the number of areas with a high level of empty homes with the number of LAs where at least 3% of private properties are empty dropping from 40 in 2003 to 15 in 2006.

There are 89,953 vacant public dwellings, 1.5% of the public dwelling stock. Twelve LAs have more than 5% of their public dwelling stock vacant. Nine are in the north of England with the highest proportions in Tyndale (7.9%), Hartlepool (6.7%) and North Norfolk (6.5%).

High proportion of empty homes in the north

Fourteen of the fifteen LAs with a high proportion of empty private homes are outside southern England and nine are in the North West. The biggest proportions of private empty homes are in Pendle (6.2%), Manchester (5.7%) and Liverpool (5.0%). Significantly, there was a rise in the number of private empty homes in 12 of these 15 LAs during the past three years, with a combined rise of 10,260 empty homes in these areas.

The average house price in all 15 of the LAs with a high level of empty homes is below the regional average. The discount is, on average, £30,004 (or 17%). The largest discount is in Stoke-on-Trent, at £63,145 (34%).

Social factors

Twelve of the 15 LAs with a high level of empty private homes rank amongst the 20% most deprived areas in England, according to the government's Indices of Deprivation. (The Indices of Deprivation are produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government and rank LAs in England by a range of factors including income, education, health and living conditions.)

Average weekly earnings in areas with a high amount of private empty homes are, on average, 10% below the regional average and 17% below the English average.

On average, high empty home areas had a claimant count rate 0.3 percentage points above the regional average.  The worst performer in the group – Liverpool - had an unemployment rate of 5.1%, more than double the regional average of 2.5%.

Martin Ellis, Chief Economist at Halifax, commented: "It is encouraging that the number of empty homes in England has fallen by nearly 20,000 over the past three years, but it is also notable that the problem has become worse in many areas with the highest number of empty homes.  Rising property prices encourage the rejuvenation of empty homes in many parts of England. However, it is clear that intervention is also necessary.”

“We would like the government to extend the 5% rate of VAT for renovating an empty home to all properties vacant for more than 6 months not just those properties that have been un-occupied for more than two years."

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