260,000 long-term empty homes sitting idle across England

A property expert is calling for a re-think of the Government’s new build strategy which aims to deliver 300,000 new homes a year.

Simon Taylor, founder of Empty Property Hunters said:

“According to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities there are over 260,000 long-term empty homes sitting idle across England, many in areas crying out for housing.  The new build strategy is missing a key ingredient.  While Britain is under pressure to build its way out of the housing crisis, new builds come with a heavy carbon cost and making long-term empty homes available could alleviate this, with a far more environmentally sustainable solution.

“The numbers are stark.  Constructing an average three-bedroom home in the UK creates around 45 tonnes of CO₂, [*1] the equivalent of driving around the world five times.   By contrast, restoring an existing property typically produces around half that amount, saving up to 25 tonnes of embodied carbon per home [*2].  With targets of 300,000 new homes a year, new construction alone could emit more than 13 million tonnes of CO₂ annually before a single boiler is switched on.  This is the same amount of emissions created by a city as large as Manchester where every house is running gas and electricity for one year.

“As a society, we all need improve our approach to sustainability.  Eco boilers, electric cars and taxation on aviation and the oil and gas industries play their part but surely we also need to talk about re-use of housing from an environmental perspective too?  There is no excuse, it’s simply common sense.”

The numbers of long-term empty properties are growing by 8-10% a year, continuing an upward trend since 2021 with 40,000 more abandoned since last this time year.  They are left uninhabited for multiple reasons – sometimes because people move abroad or there is a family dispute or people are unsure what to do with an inherited property.

“Tax breaks could help abandoned homes be brought back to life,” continues Taylor.  “Many are the types of properties that people want; family homes with gardens in established areas with the infrastructure already in place.  It is about time that empty homes come into the conversation and back into community use.”

Empty Property Hunters (EPH) is a research-led firm specialising in tracing and acquiring long-term vacant homes and bringing them back into use.  “We don’t just find properties, we unlock potential,” confirms Taylor.  “Every time we restore an empty home instead of replacing it, we’re avoiding the carbon footprint of an entirely new build and breathing life back into the community around it.  But we believe that more can be done.  Therefore, I’d like to call on the Government to see how long-term empty properties can be into the housing strategy.”

Empty Property Hunters has recently acquired a large five-bedroom Victorian house in Sheppherd’s Bush which had stood empty for almost a decade.  EPH’s in-house tracing team tracked down the absentee owner who hasn’t lived at the property for several years.  Work will shortly begin on a full refurbishment, saving an estimated 35 tonnes of embodied carbon while turning a derelict shell into a high-quality family home once again.

“It’s more environmentally friendly to refurbish this five-bed house than it would be to build a small new starter home,” adds Taylor. “That’s the kind of practical sustainability we believe the housing market needs.”