We are used to seeing stories about empty homes in London, particularly empty homes bought by wealthy investors who leave them unoccupied. But these sorts of empty properties are not the biggest issue.
Research (pdf) by the Empty Homes campaigning charity, where I am director, shows that London actually has the lowest proportion of long-term empty homes in England with 0.56% of homes in the capital officially described as empty. That’s not to say there isn’t a problem with empty homes in the capital, but we need to be careful not to allow a London lens to distort the bigger picture.
There is justified outrage at the London phenomenon of luxury properties languishing empty, or being hardly ever used, while so many people cannot afford decent housing. Our charity wants to raise awareness of the waste of empty homes and help come up with ideas and campaigns to bring homes back into use.
We feel strongly that the government should review how to deter properties being bought primarily as wealth accumulators rather than as homes. It is worth bearing in mind that many of the properties talked about as empty in the capital are unlikely to be counted as such in the government data, because they are used occasionally, so the recently-increased council tax premium for empty homes will not hit these owners.
But luxury investment properties are just the tip of a much larger empty homes iceberg.
Our analysis reveals that the northern regions in areas like Humberside and Lancashire , followed by the Midlands, have the highest proportion of empty homes. In the north east, 1.34% of homes - more than 16,000 properties - are empty. There are also high levels in some southern localities, particularly around seaside places. The neighbourhoods with the highest levels of long-term empty homes tend to have lower property prices, poorer residents, and higher levels of private rented housing. Much of this housing is sub-standard, often located on streets with a poor reputation where many would not consider living and those with a choice leave.
These neighbourhoods are too easily dismissed as places of low demand. Yet they generally sit within wider housing markets where there are plans to build more homes. The work of community-based organisations, such as Giroscope in Kingston-upon-Hull, shows that if they can access funds to buy and do-up empty properties, they can create decent, sought-after homes especially if they are supported by a local authority. The government should recognise the value of investing in these community-based neighbourhood-improvement approaches, which can make a big difference to left-behind areas.
We need policies that recognise that these conditions are just as much a part of the housing crisis as the extreme affordability gap in London. We need to be just as outraged about the failure to deal with the high proportion of empty properties in forgotten areas as we are about luxury properties standing empty. Building new homes is essential, but so is making the most of our existing properties.
Helen Williams is director of campaigning charity Empty Homes
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