National Empty Homes Week highlights vacant property crisis

Councils across England are marking National Empty Homes Week by calling on owners of vacant properties to get in touch to discuss bringing them back into use.

The campaign, which takes place annually, emphasises how resurrecting empty homes can benefit owners, tenants and communities alike.

Running from 27 February to 6 March, National Empty Homes Week highlights the 250,000 properties in England that, according to latest government statistics, have stood vacant for more than six months.

And, shocking as that figure is, it does not represent the full extent of the issue.

Charity Action on Empty Homes (AEH) points out there are 207,000 additional properties that are covered by exemptions and do not pay council tax.

Add to that the 257,000 second homes known as “furnished empties” and the more than 70,000 being used as permanent short lets and the true figure for homes without residents may be pushing towards one million.

Meanwhile recent analysis from homelessness charity Shelter showed that more than 271,000 people, including 123,000 children, are currently recorded as homeless in England.

AEH is now calling on central government to strengthen Empty Dwelling Management Order powers and remove the need to prove that vandalism, anti-social behaviour or dangerous dereliction are associated with an empty home before action can be taken.

It is also demanding England follows Scotland and Wales in creating a national empty homes programme to return properties to use or to channel funding towards relevant projects.

AEH director Rebecca Moore said: “We must act now and long-term empty homes and unused second homes are a good place to start.

“These are homes you can’t rent and you can’t buy but they could offer vitally needed housing. During a national housing crisis we cannot afford to see half a million homes stand empty because of the lack of a government strategy to support councils to bring them back into use.”

Find out more about Empty Homes Week here.