page_title: Housing in the United Kingdom
section_title: Empty homes
hierarchical_section_title: Housing in the United Kingdom / Empty homes
caption_attribution_description: English: Number of dwellings in England that have been empty for more than 6 months (2003-2016)&#91;1&#93;
context_page_description: Housing in the United Kingdom represents the largest non-financial asset class in the UK; its overall net value passed the £5 trillion mark in 2014. About 30% of homes are owned outright by their occupants, and a further 40% are owner-occupied on a mortgage. About 18% are social housing of some kind, and the remaining 12% are privately rented.
  The UK ranks in the top half of EU countries with regard to rooms per person, amenities, and quality of housing. However, the cost of housing as a proportion of income is higher than average among EU countries, and the increasing cost of housing in the UK may constitute a housing crisis for some, especially for those in low income brackets or in high-cost areas such as London.
context_section_description: According to official statistics, in October 2015, there were 600,179 vacant dwellings in England, a decline from the 610,123 from a year earlier. Of these vacant dwellings, 203,596 were vacant for more than six months. This, it is believed, is mainly due to financial reasons, such as the owner being unable to sell the house or raise enough money to renovate the property. In November 2017, the government allowed councils to charge a 100% council tax premium on empty homes.
  According to official statistics, the percentage of empty homes in England fell from 3.5% in 2008 to 2.6% in 2014. One explanation for this housing transactions have picked up since the financial crisis, and because of government efforts to reduce the number of empty homes. An alternative explanation is that before April 2013 there was an incentive for property owners to report a property as empty, as there was a rebate on council tax for vacant property. And when this incentive was removed, property owners ceased informing the council that their property was empty, and this led to an apparent fall in empty homes reported by official statistics.
  The number of empty homes includes homes where the previous occupier is in prison, in care, in hospital or recently deceased.
  The charity Empty Homes argued that empty homes were helping contribute to the housing crisis, saying in a report "The longer a property is empty the more our housing assets are being wasted. Also, the longer a property lies empty, the more likely it is to deteriorate; the more it is likely to cost to bring back into use; and the more it is likely to be seen as a blight by the neighbours."
caption: Number of dwellings in England that have been empty for more than six months (2003–2016)[110]
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