Facts and figures

Action on Empty Homes publishes the most authoritative guide to empty homes data

See the NEW numbers in your area for 2020 - based on Government data published by MHCLG 11 Nov 2020 CLICK HERE FOR NEW DATA sorted by occurrence level for every local authority in England and showing the annual rise (levels of empty homes rose in 9 out of ten local authorities in England - for our media release click here)

To see the data ranked by change (rise or fall from the largest % rises to the biggest drops, at council level) CLICK HERE

Our commentary on the new Council Taxbase 2020 figure for Long-term empty homes, which shows a fourth consecutive year on year rise by a massive 42,540 to 268,385 is here.

Each year Action on Empty Homes analyses the Government’s official data on long-term empty homes, producing the only comprehensive analysis of this data.

This is published as a report entitled ‘Empty Homes in England’ - last year's 2019 edition can be downloaded here

For the numbers in your area for 2019 - based on Government data published Nov 2019 click here

To see what happened in your area in 2018 (two years ago) click here

You can read the our ComRes polling of MPs views about empty homes policy, published at the end of 2018 here

Government Statistics

Each year the government publishes data on vacant dwellings for each local authority and for England as a whole. This data is derived from local authority Council Taxbase data, which is a snapshot of the position in October each year.

To view the long-term empty homes data please go to table 615 vacant dwellings: you can access the latest Government statistical release from 11 November 2020 here

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants

We summarise the (2019) data by region and county and include numbers, change and levels for each local authority here

In last year's Empty Homes in England 2019 report published Monday 23rd September 2019 we also look at the prevalence of homes classified as 'second homes' if you are interested in this data you can see the levels by local authority, regionally and nationally, here

We advise reading the notes that come with the data before using the statistics. From Monday 23rd September 2019 our new edition of Empty Homes in England will also be available to shed light on the data.

If you would like to discuss this with us further please get in touch at [email protected]

For media enquiries please click here for details of how to contact the team and for further information

Latest

Will the last investor leaving Southwark please turn out the lights.. until Airbnb is back in business

New Government data shows how the Coronavirus pandemic shines a light on how we keep on building housing which doesn't house anyone: so homelessness rises, affordability declines and home ownership drops. Southwark is the canary in this particular coalmine.
Massive 20% rise in empty homes up over 42,000 to 268,385 while 100,000 families are stuck in Temporary Accommodation

Government data released today shows a massive year on year rise of over 42,000 to a total of 268,385 long-term empty homes in England, as nearly 100,000 families languish in temporary accommodation. This is the biggest rise since current records began.
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Will the last investor leaving Southwark please turn out the lights.. until Airbnb is back in business

New Government data shows how the Coronavirus pandemic shines a light on how we keep on building housing which doesn't house anyone: so homelessness rises, affordability declines and home ownership drops. Southwark is the canary in this particular coalmine.
Massive 20% rise in empty homes up over 42,000 to 268,385 while 100,000 families are stuck in Temporary Accommodation

Government data released today shows a massive year on year rise of over 42,000 to a total of 268,385 long-term empty homes in England, as nearly 100,000 families languish in temporary accommodation. This is the biggest rise since current records began.
Where are Haringey's Second Homes?

Why is Haringey the only council in the country not submitting crucial housing data to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government?
Pretty Vacant

Our new report on why the next 500 high-rise towers in London won't end the capitals's housing crisis. And how they will make it worse.
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.