The solutions

The Solutions

If we all take action together we can radically reduce the number of empty homes across the country.

Take action in your local community

Individuals and local housing activist groups have taken community-led action to create new projects to bringing empty homes back into use. Contact Brighid Carey if you want to take local action.

Elected councillors can play an important role

Local councillors have played a crucial role in tackling empty homes by developing strategies to support local communities and individuals who want to take action. If you are a local councillor or an officer and want to get involved, then email Chris Bailey.

Get involved in our London focused ‘Buy to Leave’ project.

London has tens of thousands of properties bought by wealthy investors, who may leave them empty to store of wealth or to sell-on at a profit. Some investors may use them in other ways which generate a profit without offering anyone a home - these include 'whole home' year-round Airbnb lets. In the second half of 2019, we held a public conversation (and commissioned opinion research) on what the GLA and the Government should be doing to stop this practice. The results of that phase of the project were published in April 2020 as our 'Pretty Vacant' report on how wealth investment restricts access to housing in London. We also reviewed the international situation and policy responses around the world, in our earlier publication 'Homes Without Residents'. To get involved with the next phase of this project get in touch with Will McMahon or Chris Bailey.

Join our campaign for government investment

We are calling for the government to invest in tackling empty homes. Our call for targeted investment has been supported by a wide range of organisations through the Coalition for Community Investment, read more on the Coalition here. We were also supported in our call for urgent investment and a review of the powers available to local authorities by the Nationwide Building Society who supported our publication Empty Homes in England 2019 and the 2019 National Empty Homes Week. Nationwide also started a campaign on the issue amongst its members and called for action by the new Government shortly after the December 2019 General Election. In the summer of 2019, we called for a National Action on Empty Homes Partnership to deliver three things:

Government investment to tackle the growth in empty homes
Local Authority commitment to developing strategies for community-led solutions for empty homes
Community-led action to refurbish empty homes in local communities.

Please let us know if you want to become a supporter by emailing info (at) actiononemtpyhomes.org

Stay in touch by joining our e-bulletin list.

Our e-bulletins are short and snappy but will keep you up to speed on what is going on both nationally and internationally on empty homes. Email Chris Bailey with 'Bulletin' in the subject line.

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.
Can New Zealand’s new Labour Government turn round decades of housing failure?

Our research volunteer Bill Golden asks whether Jacinda Ardern's landslide victory on the back of tackling the pandemic and domestic terrorism stands her in good stead to deal with New Zealand's knottiest public policy challenge - its longstanding housing crisis.
No Address? No Access To Services...

Chris Bailey explains how a ProxyAddress can help people facing homelessness and our campaign to turn proxy addresses into real addresses

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
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
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.
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.