Housing crisis or waste of space?
New research has revealed the number of unoccupied residential properties in the UK is 617,527 which begs the question - is there really a Housing Crisis in the number of properties available, or are we simply not putting empty homes into good use? Do we need to build quite so many more on protected green space, or simply put what we have into use? Should local authorities dictate where those on a waiting list for a homes in overpopulated areas such London and the SE England be relocated to the many roads of boarded up properties as part of a regeneration plan? These are questions that need to be raised as part of the UK housing plan.
A Freedom of Information request to all UK local councils asked about the number of empty buildings as of September and found there were 617,527, of which 445,310 were residential properties and 172,217 were commercial.
Despite the powers vested in Local Authorities to be able to put empty properties into use by issuing an EDMO (Empty Dwelling Management Order) many councils claim that there is not the financial resource to service this.
Councils have almost entirely abandoned powers to tackle the rising number of empty homes prompting calls for the legislation to be scrapped and replaced with a scheme local authorities find it easier to use. It marks an all-time low for the number of applications, having more than halved from 2017. When they were introduced in 2006, the government estimated EDMOs would be used 1,000 times a year.
Liverpool City Council had the most, recording 11,073 empty residential properties, followed by Manchester with 10,531.
The research was conducted by Glide, which helps arrange broadband and energy services in the rental, student accommodation and Build to Rent sector.
With such a large number of empty space in commercial - could this earmark spaces for new regeneration?
Helping businesses to succeed with innovative solutions.
5 年The issue is jobs and commuting. People dont want to live in areas where there are no jobs or no easy way to commute to work. Also who owns the properties and what state of repair are they in... councils say they have no money to use the powers as may of the houses will need repair before being usable.
The Yorkshire Surveyor - Chartered Building Surveyor. CIOB. qualified joiner and carpenter. Creator of Tizzy Lemon. Author of crime fiction novels App and Tizzy Game inventor Co Author of Going Underground .
5 年A very interesting point. Although despite these empty homes prices in many areas are rising. My view is that all new homes need to be super energy efficient and sustainable but yet affordable particularly for first time buyers. The musical chairs of various housing ministers over the few years has been a joke! Can Boris and his team make a difference? Only time will tell ????