To be classed as ‘long-term empty’ a home has to be liable for council tax and to have been unfurnished and not lived in for over 6 months. This figure is increasing all the time, but as at October 2025, it was 303,185 - a rise of 14% on 2024 and over 50% up on 2016 - the year that the last national Empty Homes Programme ended.

These are homes which are empty, many long-term, but for which there is a reason we might all understand - for example, the owner has died, this is the largest exemption category, comprising over 124,000 homes, or nearly 60% of council tax exempt empties. As at October 2025, these Council Tax exempted empty homes numbered over 211,000. Most exemption categories are not time limited. But these homes are not classified as long-term empty by Government, even when they have spent many years empty.

These are homes that are empty and unfurnished but haven’t been that way for longer than 6 months. These may well become long-term empties soon. Some of these will be unsold newbuild homes. As at October 2025, homes that are empty but have not yet been empty six months numbered nearly 240,000.

These are homes which nobody lives in but are furnished. They may, in some circumstances, be used as weekend or holiday homes for their owners, but increasingly many are seen as investments, left to sit empty, accruing value for their owner. Some may be used as Airbnb type short lets although many of these may pay business rates and not appear on the Council Taxbase at all. As at October 2025, there were 268,000 furnished empty homes classified as so-called ‘second homes’ - it is also worth remembering that you can have five (or 10) so-called ‘second homes’ - even in the same council area - making a nonsense of the term.

Homes that are inherited and taken through probate but never cleared of furniture, sold or brought back into use are also classified as ‘second homes’ a year after probate.

Like second homes these are never used as primary residences but instead generate income for their owners, blocking them from becoming anybody’s home. In many cases owners ‘flip’ to business rates and qualify for Small Business Relief avoiding all local tax. Analysis in Summer 2025, found nearly 74,000 such dwellings, flipped to business rates. NONE of these are included in our total vacancy figure of 1,022,433 for 2025. In the South West region alone there were 21,678 paying business rates (and that region is already classed as the most vacant in England without counting these homes). For context the latest figure for Airbnbs in London is over 87,000 suggesting many more may be concealed within other data categories.

These are some of the most hidden empty homes of all - they might be very visible on a local street but you won’t easily find them in official data. Each year between 40,000 and 60,000 homes are simply removed from the Council Taxbase which is used to produce vacancy figures. The argument is they are not in a state that is habitable but they can still continue rising in value, while paying no Council Tax or business rates and without being counted as empty homes! Some may return to use but many languish like this for decades.