A group of leading housing sector organisations has called on the government to bring England’s hundreds of thousands of empty homes back into use to address the growing housing crisis.
More than one million homes in the country are estimated to be unoccupied, with more than 309,000 understood to be long-term empty. Housing sector leaders, including Shelter, Big Issue and Resonance, have sent a letter to housing minister Matthew Pennycook MP urging the government to take action.
John Bird, Big Issue founder and crossbench peer, said: “In a stubborn housing crisis like this one, we need to turn every house in the UK into a useful property that is being used.”
The joint letter, signed by 25 housing charities, social investors and local government leaders, calls on the government to launch a national strategy to refurbish 300,000 homes and bring them back into use.
This is “one of the quickest, greenest and most cost-effective ways to increase housing supply,” the signatories wrote.
“It can also address the country’s social rent housing shortfall and meet the need of society’s most vulnerable people.”
The letter sets out how this could be achieved: firstly by introducing a fully-funded local authority duty to investigate and act on long-term empty homes complaints. This would be complemented by a nationally funded loan scheme, plus acquisition and enforcement funds.
Signatories also call for the new homes bonus system, where central government pays local councils which approve more housing developments, to be replaced by a reward scheme for successful empty home interventions.
There are currently 1.3 million households in England on a waiting list for social housing, up 10 per cent in the last two years. The number of people in temporary accommodation has also risen in that time to more than 380,000, up 8 per cent in a year.
The government has committed to building 1.5 million more homes by 2029, and is thought to be aiming for 300,000 of these to be social housing.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said its English devolution white paper will strengthen the ability of local authorities to take over empty homes. This comes on top of powers to charge additional council tax on properties left empty for a year, and grant funding to bring homes back into use.
Lord Bird added: “The 309,000 long-term empty homes in England present a smart opportunity to put much-needed homes back into a failing system. We cannot sit by while record numbers of families remain trapped in unsuitable temporary accommodation, draining our public finances and threatening the prospects of thousands of children.
“An empty homes strategy is the kind of bold, long-term prevention thinking we need to solve the homelessness crisis, rather than settling for sticking plasters.”
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Having empty homes is bad for communities and we’re fixing this as part of our plans to restore the dream of homeownership in London and across the country.
“We’ve set out plans to make it easier for empty homes to be brought back into use and expect councils to use the powers we’ve already given them to ensure that this happens now.
“This is alongside investing £39bn to build the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.”
