Media info

Media Contacts

Please contact the Campaigns Manager, Chris Bailey

(for further contact details click link below for media release)

NEW Feb 27th National Empty Homes Week 2023 sees call for action on One Million Homes nobody lives in

9 November 2022 MEDIA RELEASE Government data released today shows numbers of long-term empty homes rise in almost every region of England

FOR DATA ON EVERY LOCAL AUTHORITY AREA plus REGIONAL BREAKDOWNS and stats on where most homes are empty and the biggest rises in empty homes CLICK HERE

MEDIA RELEASE New Pretty Vacant report asks - is Manchester Building 'The Wrong Housing'?

NOVEMBER 2021 COMMENTARY on the post-Covid 2021 Council Taxbase data: click here

13 Sept 2021: As empty homes numbers shoot up in capital, new report 'Nobody's Home' calls for housing development to meet local needs not investors priorities

20 May 2021: Latest Official Dwelling Stock Statistics reveal One Million homes we aren’t living in as pandemic deaths add to empties

14 April 2021: Coalition calls Empty Homes Day of Action Saturday 17th April - call for action on half a million empty homes

15th Feb 2021: Call for Government to introduce National Empty Homes Strategy at start of Empty Homes Week 2021 as 268,385 wasted homes lie long-term empty after 20% rise this year

11th Nov 2020 Official data shows massive rise in empty homes to 268,385 - the largest rise since current records began

12th August 2020 Global Empty Homes Network Launched in UK, United States and Australia with call for worldwide housing protections during Covid Crisis

28 April 2020 Pretty Vacant: Our New report explains why the next 500 towers won't solve London's housing crisis - as building re-starts across London, we explain why Government action is needed.

9 April 2020: Coronavirus and Empty Homes: How England's half a million empty homes can help the NHS: A Three Point Plan

LATEST MHCLG FIGURES RELEASED SHOW ANOTHER BIG RISE Click here for more

See the data for every local council area in England here, includes regional summary

LATEST MHCLG DATA Click here for more

For the latest comment and updates follow our Twitter account here

What MPs think: Read ComRes research on MPs attitudes to Empty Homes and the Housing Crisis here

Film from HuffPost:

For a 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

Media Releases

LATEST: Coronavirus and Empty Homes - How England's half a million empty homes can help the NHS: A Three Point Plan

13th November 2019 Release on latest Government figures showing third consecutive year on year rise to 226,000

New poll shows huge parliamentary support for action on empty homes as homeless families in temporary accommodation hit ten-year high

Latest

Airbnb Regulation or Deregulation DEADLINE to decide...RESPOND TO GOVERNMENT NOW!

Currently there are no controls on Airbnb in England. This is your chance to respond to two Government consultations that offer some hope of regulating Airbnb. This is your chance to respond by 7th June 2023.
HOW TO RESPOND to Government Consultation on Registration System for Airbnbs and Short Lets

This is the second Government Consultation on Short Lets or Airbnbs - the deadline is 7th June 2023 - we need a robust, compulsory system to sit alongside the proposed new planning use class and platforms must be compelled to share data with local councils.
Government Airbnb Consultations HOW TO RESPOND - ACT NOW! DEADLINE 7th June

How to respond to two current Government Consultations on new powers to regulate Short Lets and Airbnb - one is on registration and licensing and one on a new planning use class for short lets that take homes out of residential use. Respond by 7th June 2023
Wales follows Scotland to create National Empty Homes Programme as England’s empties continue to pile up

Jack Portman looks at Wales new National Empty Homes Programme and asks whether the rest of the UK is leaving England behind on housing policy, as vacancy levels in England continue to rise amidst an intense housing crisis.

How do I find the owner of an abandoned property?

Action on Empty Homes does not have the capacity to assist individuals or property developers in locating the owners of individual empty properties, but we can access expert advice for you and there are a number of ways in which the owner may be located, these are listed here:
Empty Homes Data

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.
In Empty Homes Week 2022 we call for action and investment

In Empty Homes Week 2022 we explain the areas of policy that fail our homeless and families in need of genuinely affordable housing. Empty homes have two roles in this they can house the homeless and they can show us where housing policy fails by building 'The Wrong Housing' to end the Housing Crisis
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.
Our Pretty Vacant Manchester report asks is Manchester Building 'The Wrong Housing'

Action on Empty Homes new report supported by the Evan Cornish Foundation reports on work to examine vacancy levels and housing policy in Manchester and asks questions about the City's 'hidden empties', its persistently high level of so-called 'second homes' and the impact of Airbnb on access to housing.
Ask your local candidates to Sign up to the Campaign Against Empty Homes Local Election Manifesto

The Campaign Against Empty Homes is supported by Action on Empty Homes The Big Issue Disabled People Against Cuts Fuel Poverty Action The Green Party Homes for All Labour Homelessness Campaign London Renters’ Rights Peace & Justice Project Radical Housing Network Social Housing Action Campaign Southwark Defend Council Housing Streets Kitchen Street Storage Unite Community London and South East Unite the Union London and Eastern Region
Future proofing: Use Empty Homes Week 2022 to explore retrofitting while renovating

Empty Homes Week 2022 takes place from Monday February 28th to Sunday March 6th. Brighid Carey, AEH Consultancy and Projects Manager says we should all use the focus it offers to explore retrofitting while renovating and bringing empty homes back into use
Pretty Vacant: Our latest report on London's housing crisis

New report reveals why the next 500 high rise towers won’t end London’s housing crisis and the Government action needed.
Global Empty Homes Network Launches in UK, USA and Australia with call for worldwide housing protections during Covid Crisis

Action on Empty Homes, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and Prosper Australia, announce launch of the Global Empty Homes Network (GEHN). The three organizations, based in the UK, the US, and Australia will focus particularly on the mismatch between growing empty homes numbers and increasing housing need.
News coverage highlights second homes numbers rising as thousands flip to business rates

Recent media coverage focused on so-called 'second homes' flipping to business rates to avoid paying council tax and how this adds to local housing pressures as homes disappear from residential supply

Media info

Media Contacts

Film from HuffPost:

Media Releases

New poll shows huge parliamentary support for action on empty homes as homeless families in temporary accommodation hit ten-year high

New Government figures show empty homes rising at fastest rate for a decade

Empty Homes Week 2018 205,000 long-term empties need action now

Coalition for Community Investment launched – call for Government action spans private, social and public housing

Action needed empty homes rise for the first time since 2008

Empty Homes: why do some areas have high levels?

New Housing supply isn’t only about new build