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  1. The empty homes challenge
  2. The solutions

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.

Published: 18th January, 2019

Updated: 2nd March, 2021

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Latest

  • Job Advert: Project Support Officer at Action on Empty Homes Interested in housing and the need for a retrofit revolution?

    Action on Empty Homes is looking for a part-time Project Support Officer to work for a minimum of 10 months on a project to investigate the feasibility of retrofitting long-term empty homes to help meet the climate challenge in three local authority areas.  If the project is successful, then a further three-year initiative may follow. Deadline 12 June 11:59pm Start: August 2022    Salary: £30,000 plus pension pro-rata 17.5 hours per week

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    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:

  • 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.

  • Community Action on Empty Homes Toolkit

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    Our new Toolkit is designed to encourage partnerships between local councils and communities to bring empty homes back into use, to meet local housing needs.

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    National Empty Homes Week 15 – 21 Feb: Action on Empty Homes calls for Government action on escalating numbers of long-term empties . Numbers rose in 9 out of ten council areas. The 42,540 rise in 2020 was the fourth successive annual rise in numbers, but larger than the previous three years’ rises combined.

  • Massive 20% rise in empty homes up over 42,000 to 268,385 while 100,000 families are stuck in Temporary Accommodation

    Massive 20% rise in empty homes up over 42,000 to 268,385 while 100,000 families are stuck in Temporary Accommodation

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  • October 9th 2021 Day of Action - We are in a climate, health and housing emergency!

    October 9th 2021 Day of Action - We are in a climate, health and housing emergency!

    On Saturday 9th October 2021 the Campaign Against Empty Homes, a coalition Action on Empty Homes is part of, held a national Day of Action to highlight the waste of empty homes across England. You can watch it on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/JpnSAtEDZS4

  • London empty homes mapped

    London empty homes mapped

    An interactive map showing London's empty homes by Borough alongside the costs of accommodation for homeless Londoners

  • Current Projects

    Current Projects

    From our new toolkit for community-led empty homes projects to work tackling wealth investor ‘buy to leave’ and the Global Empty Homes Network; and a national coalition calling on Government to invest to save.

  • Why empty homes matter

    There are over 238,000 homes long-term empty when over 100,000 families languish in insecure and unsuitable Temporary Accommodation at a cost of over £1billion a year. Bringing long-term empty homes back into use helps rebuild neighbourhoods and makes 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.

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