Our demonstration projects

Action on Empty Homes has a major project to spread community-based regeneration in areas with high levels of empty homes.

We are following six demonstration projects where community-based organisations are bringing empty homes into use.

The six demonstration projects are:

Cultures CIC working in Stockton on Tees - see more here
East Midlands CLH working in the Sincil Bank area of Lincoln - see more here
Giroscope Ltd working in Kingston upon Hull - see more here
Groundwork Greater Manchester working in Rochdale - see more here
Methodist Action North West working in Darwen, Lancashire - see more here
North Ormesby CLT working in Middlesbrough - see more here

We want to understand what works, as well as the challenges they face.

We aim to share their experiences, to encourage other organisations and areas to look at how community-based regeneration could work in their neighbourhoods.

You can read or download both the initial report on this project and the concluding report 'Community Action on Empty Homes' published on May 2nd 2019. This practical report includes recommendations and reviews learning from the full three-year research project, during which we followed the work of the six case study projects. Just click the document images below to view and download the reports as pdfs:

Film from HuffPost:

For an alternative look at how community-led organisations can bring empty homes back to use, with benefits for the whole community, see this recent HuffPost film featuring the great work of Canopy Housing in Leeds, creating homes from empty homes. The film also features a look at the wider picture from Action on Empty Homes, which covers the issues which unite empty homes in high and lower value markets around the country: https://bit.ly/2RHCWGY

For local authority officers working on empty homes:

Our Legal Toolkit looks summarises the powers and solutions available to local council officers taking enforcement action against homes left empty, it includes case studies to show how particular enforcement powers operate under current legislation, it is available for free download, here: 'Legal Toolkit: How to use the law to best effect to get empty homes back into use: a short guide on the legal options available to local authorities'

Latest

Estimating ‘buy to leave’ in Kensington & Chelsea

Data from the latest Council Taxbase reveals Kensington & Chelsea has the highest proportion of long-term empty homes in London. Furthermore, 10% of the borough's homes are classed as 'second homes'. Chujan Sivathasan uses data from Jonathan Bourne at UCL and draws on Dr Rex Atkinson's work on 'Anchoring Wealth: The grounded impact of international wealth chains on housing markets in London'
London Buy to Leave

London 'buy to leave' and wealth investment project supported by Trust for London. Looking at how wealth investment distorts London housing delivery.
'Not the right housing'

Increase in long-term empties discredits rise in house building, says Action on Empty Homes, as London empty homes numbers rise to 25,000. Speculation mounts that unsold newbuild is contributing as Hounslow tops national figures with 158% rise.
Housing Campaigners meet to discuss 'Buy-to-Leave' in London

Oct 17th saw Action on Empty Homes hold a campaign meeting for local housing activists on 'buy to leave' and wealth investment in London residential property

What we do

Action on Empty Homes campaigns for empty homes to be brought into use for people in housing need. We raise awareness, campaign for policy change, provide advice and research and develop ideas to help bring empty homes into use
Publications and Research

We produce four types of publications: Campaign publications advocating policy responses to end the waste of empty homes Research and analysis of the issue including Empty Homes in England, the only comprehensive annual analysis of official data Reports on active programmes to bring empty homes into use Practical toolkits to support those working in the field
Meet the team

Our staff team and Board of Trustees work closely together to ensure that Action on Empty Homes campaigns for change in the most effective way.
Empty Homes England 2019 is available now

Our new annual report on the state of the empty homes problem in England reports the second consecutive annual increase in numbers to over 216,000 and the fastest rise in a decade
Why empty homes matter

There are over 216,000 homes long-term empty when England needs over 300,000 additional homes each year. Bringing long-term empty homes back into use will also help rebuild neighbourhoods and make environmental sense.
The solutions

We believe in community-led action to tackle empty homes, encouraged by active local authorities to support grassroots initiatives, underpinned by a government investment strategy to bring long-term empties back into use.
Estimating ‘buy to leave’ in Kensington & Chelsea

Data from the latest Council Taxbase reveals Kensington & Chelsea has the highest proportion of long-term empty homes in London. Furthermore, 10% of the borough's homes are classed as 'second homes'. Chujan Sivathasan uses data from Jonathan Bourne at UCL and draws on Dr Rex Atkinson's work on 'Anchoring Wealth: The grounded impact of international wealth chains on housing markets in London'
Facts and figures

Government publish data on vacant dwellings for each local authority and for England as a whole. Action on Empty Homes publishes the most authoritative guide to empty homes data and each year we analyse the official data on long-term empty homes, producing the only comprehensive analysis of this data.
National Empty Homes Week 2019 Sept 23rd - 29th

This year the housing crisis has intensified as long-term empty homes numbers rose by nearly 11,000 to over 216,000 focusing public attention on the problem
Accessibility