UK Housing Crisis… But Why Are 350,000 Homes Sitting Empty?

Transcript

Hi, I’m Ruban Selvanayagam, co-director at Property Solvers.

In today’s video, I want to tackle what I see as an important question at the heart of the UK’s housing crisis: how can it be that Over 350,000 Homes Are Sitting Empty?

On the one hand, we hear constant headlines about families struggling to afford a home, young people locked out of the property market, and social housing waiting lists running into the millions.

Yet, on the other, official government data shows that at any given point, hundreds of thousands of homes across the UK are classified as “long-term vacant.”

So what’s going on here? Who owns these properties, and why don’t they just sell them or rent them out?

Let’s dig in…

In England alone, there are around 265,000 long-term empty homes — and I didn’t just pluck that figure out of thin air. It comes from the charity Action on Empty Homes, based on official data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Scotland adds around 46,000 and Northern Ireland about 21,000. Wales doesn’t report long-term-only figures in the same way, but even so, the total number of genuine long-term empty homes across the UK is likely to be around 350,000.

Note that these stats do not include empty mixed-use, commercial properties and other buildings — many of which could be converted into much-needed residential housing if planning and viability hurdles were addressed.

And just to clarify, ‘long-term empty’ means a property left vacant for more than six months. That doesn’t include short-term voids — like homes between tenancies, under refurbishment or redevelopment, or those already under offer or sold subject to contract.

So, to be conservative, we’re talking roughly equivalent to an entire year’s worth of new build targets and that’s in a country that struggles to get anywhere near those levels.

And while the number of empty properties doesn’t match the 1.2 million households currently on social housing waiting lists, it still represents a huge pool of potential homes that’s going unused.

When you also factor in the challenges developers, traders, and landlords like us face — from soaring build costs and endless planning hurdles to shrinking margins — the reality of so much existing stock lying unused is even harder to justify.

This issue isn’t new. Vacancy levels have been tracked for decades, and despite repeated government pledges, the figures have barely shifted.

During the recession in the early 1990s, the total spiked to record highs. After the financial crisis in 2008, repossessions and stalled developments drove the numbers up again. And today, even in a very different economic climate, the level of long-term vacancies remains stubbornly high.

What’s striking is that throughout all this, successive governments have doubled down on housebuilding — setting unrealistic targets of 250,000 to 300,000 new homes a year — while this huge pool of existing stock has often been overlooked. 

Many campaigners (including ourselves) argue that – in most cases – it’s cheaper and quicker to bring an empty home or building back into use than to build a brand-new one from scratch, yet policy has historically tilted heavily toward new development.

So who actually owns these empty homes?

The truth is, there isn’t just one reason — empty homes are spread across lots of different ownership groups.

A big chunk are inherited or probate properties. When someone passes away, the legal process can drag on for months, sometimes years. Add multiple heirs into the mix — one wanting to sell, another wanting to hold on, another wanting nothing to do with it — and the disagreements often leave the property stuck in limbo.

You also have complicated legal situations. Homes caught up in protracted divorce proceedings, repossessions, bankruptcies, or unclear ownership disputes can sit untouched until the paperwork is resolved — which can sometimes take years, if they get resolved at all.

There are also many empty properties that have slipped into major disrepair, where the owner can’t afford to bring them up to standard. They might have been lived in by elderly relatives for decades without modernisation. Many we come across have major damp issues, structural problems, or are completely unsafe. 

Mortgage lenders won’t touch them, which means the only real option is to sell to cash buyers like us at Property Solvers or at auction. But rather than selling for a lower price, many owners just leave them standing empty — sometimes for years or indefinitely.

Another category is stalled developments. Renovations, conversions, or even full new-build projects can run out of money or hit planning problems. And in recent years, inflationary pressures — from soaring material and labour costs — have pushed many schemes over budget and made them financially unviable. Developers of all sizes have been left with no choice but to mothball sites altogether, leaving them half-finished or abandoned.

You’ll also find speculative owners and investors. Some deliberately keep properties vacant, banking on future price growth rather than actually selling. And particularly in London, overseas buyers often hold properties as little more than a safe place to park cash — rarely, if ever, living in them.

And sometimes, landlords simply don’t want the hassle of re-letting, so the property sits vacant. It might sound strange and a pretty counter-intuitive investment strategy, but it’s something we’ve increasingly seen first-hand at Property Solvers when speaking with landlords in recent years.

Somewhat related to this are second homes. In popular tourist areas, some houses are used just a few weeks a year as holiday getaways. That means they sit empty most of the time, while local families struggle to find affordable housing.

Finally, there’s the issue of bureaucracy. In some cases, local authorities and housing associations own empty homes but don’t have the budget to refurbish or re-let them quickly. It’s a problem of resources and red tape as much as anything else. 

And when empty properties are looked at by buyers like us, a whole array of planning issues can arise — from change-of-use hurdles to heritage restrictions — which slows things down even further or, more often than not, puts us off going ahead.

Whatever the reason, the result is the same: perfectly usable housing stock going to waste while families struggle to find somewhere to live.

Empty homes can also:

• Become targets for vandalism, squatters, or anti-social behaviour.
• Lower the value of neighbouring homes.
• Put extra strain on councils and emergency services.
• Drain local economies by leaving shops and services with fewer customers.
• And create an atmosphere of neglect that makes whole streets or communities feel less safe.

It’s no wonder campaigners argue that bringing empty homes back into use should be a much higher government priority.

So What Can Be Done About It?

Local authorities do have some powers to tackle long-term empties. For example:

• They can charge Up to 300% Council Tax Premiums on properties left vacant for more than 10 years, with lower premiums kicking in after something like two years. The idea is to make it financially painful for owners to leave homes empty indefinitely.
• In a similar vein, they can use Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) to take temporary control of a property, refurbish it, and rent it out if the owner refuses to act. In practice, though, EDMOs are rarely used because of the legal hoops involved.
• Some councils run Grants or Loan Schemes to help owners refurbish properties and bring them back into use — particularly if they agree to let the home out at an affordable rent for a set period.
• A few areas have introduced “Buy and Refurbish” Programmes, where councils or housing associations purchase long-term empties, bring them back into decent condition, and add them to their affordable housing stock.
• And there are Compulsory Purchase Powers (CPOs) that councils can use to acquire abandoned or severely neglected properties. However, CPOs are expensive, legally complex, and can drag on for years, so they’re not often used for single homes.

Indeed, the challenge is that enforcement is patchy. Many councils are stretched thin financially and simply don’t have the staff, funding, or political will to take decisive action. Even when the tools and mechanisms exist, using them consistently across thousands of empty properties is a massive task.

That’s why, despite the powers available, the numbers of long-term empty homes haven’t fallen significantly in recent years.

This is where opinion really divides. Some argue that current policies here in the UK don’t go nearly far enough. Housing campaigners often point to international examples where tougher action has been taken to stop homes sitting idle.

• Vancouver, for example, introduced an Empty Homes Tax in 2017. If a property is left vacant for more than six months, the owner pays a levy of 3% of its value every year. The policy has pushed thousands of homes back into the rental market and raised significant funds for affordable housing.
• Singapore takes an even stricter approach with its Vacancy Penalties and Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty. Developers who fail to sell units within five years, or sit on unused land, face heavy financial penalties — meaning homes can’t just be hoarded.
• Ireland recently rolled out a Vacant Homes Tax, set at three times the local property tax, aimed at getting long-term empties back into use. It’s early days, but the government hopes it will help reduce the number of derelict and underused dwellings across the country.
• And in the Netherlands, local councils have the power to directly intervene if a home has been empty for more than six months. Owners can be required to rent it out or sell, and in cities like Amsterdam, vacancy registries and strict enforcement have made it much harder to leave properties unused.

Advocates of these measures argue that without tougher rules, many owners will continue to let homes gather dust — sometimes treating them as passive long-term investments, other times simply avoiding the uncertainty and hassle of selling or renting them out.

Others say punitive measures risk hitting the wrong people. For example, not every long-term empty property belongs to a wealthy investor. Some are owned by struggling families, or by elderly people who can’t afford repairs. Campaigners in that camp argue the focus should be on support — grants, low-interest loans, or partnerships with housing associations — rather than punishment.

There’s also a wider political debate about priorities. Should councils focus more on tackling empties instead of chasing new-build targets? Should overseas ownership be restricted even more tightly? Or is the problem so tied up in legal and financial complexities that large-scale enforcement just isn’t realistic?

The bottom line is: while everyone agrees empty homes are a wasted resource, there’s little consensus on how far government should go in forcing them back into use.

So how do we fix this? There’s no silver bullet, but a few ideas keep coming up:

• Streamlining Probate so inherited homes can be sold faster.
• Incentivising Sales through reduced taxes or grants for owners who bring properties back into circulation.
• More Flexible Auction and Quick Sale Routes for homes in poor condition, so they don’t sit unsold for years.
• Tougher Penalties for owners who deliberately leave homes vacant long-term without good reason.

At Property Solvers, we’ve dealt with many empty homes through our auction and cash buying services. Often, the solution is simply helping executors or overwhelmed owners understand their options — and giving them a clear path to sell, even if the property isn’t in great shape.

So, going back to the question: why are there 350,000 empty homes in the middle of a housing crisis?

The truth is, it’s not just about laziness or neglect. It’s about complex ownership structures, probate delays, financial challenges, and sometimes simple indecision.

But what’s clear is this: every empty home is a missed opportunity. A roof that could shelter a family. A property that could ease pressure on our housing system.

If you’re dealing with an empty property and aren’t sure what to do next, feel free to reach out. We can provide a free and bespoke house valuation report, talk through your options — whether it’s a traditional open market sale, auction, or quick cash offer — and help you move forward. My email is ruban@propertysolvers.co.uk.

And if you know of, or come across, any empty properties in your day-to-day, contact me on the same email. We pay very generous referral fees for any properties we end up buying or auctioning.

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A big thanks for watching…