To coincide with National Empty Homes Week, which takes place next week, Leeds Building Society has analysed government figures to look at the number of empty homes in each region. It has also looked at why empty properties become empty and also looked at possible solutions to bring the existing housing stock back into use.

There are currently 676,452 empty homes in England, an increase of almost 23,500, or 3.6%, over the previous 12 months. Of these, 248,633 homes are classed as long-term empty properties, having been empty for over six months. Empty homes could make a significant dent in the current UK housing needs which the national homeless charity, Shelter, estimates at over 4 million homes.

The number of empty homes in England peaked in 2008 at over 738,000 and then gradually reduced until 2017 when the numbers started to increase again. We are now back at the level of empty homes last seen in 2012.

The North West had the largest absolute number of empty homes at 101,778, whilst the North East had the lowest absolute number of empty homes, with 41,596.

The number of long-term empty homes in England has increased by 4.8% over the past 12 months. Only one region out of the nine English regions saw a decrease in the number of long-term empty homes (North West -0.1%). The West Midlands saw the largest annual increase at 11.3%, followed by the South West with a 10% increase compared to 2021.

There is a clear north/south divide when looking at the number of empty homes as a percentage of the total regional housing stock: despite having the smallest absolute number of empty properties, the North East has the highest percentage of empty properties at 3.3%, while London has the lowest percentage at 2.4%.

Martese Carton, director of mortgage distribution, Leeds Building Society, said: “Here at Leeds Building Society, our purpose is to help people get into home ownership. It’s essential that the government delivers more new homes to meet demand and make homeownership more achievable. Of course, building new homes is one way it must do this, but our research shows it’s not the only way. The lack of housing supply has been a major factor in the rapid house price increases we have seen in the UK over the past few years. The UK government set itself a target of building 300,000 new homes a year, but the last time this level of annual housebuilding was achieved was 1977.

“Although the current number of empty properties is a national disgrace, there is a growing sense that these empty properties could provide some of the solutions to the housing crisis the country faces. We also know that for many people, empty properties can be a blight on local communities. Therefore, National Empty Homes Week presents a great opportunity to shine a light on how empty properties can be brought back to life and how local people are really helping to regenerate their communities.

“Last November, we published a public policy paper looking at how the government could tackle the UK’s homeownership crisis. Part of the report looked at how we could make use of our existing housing stock. There is little doubt that the refurbishment and repurposing of old, or empty properties, makes great financial, economic, and social sense as it could provide affordable homes for hundreds of thousands of people.”