The number of empty private homes in England fell by 9% between 2003 and 2007, according to the latest annual Halifax survey of Empty Homes in England.

There were 279,281 empty private homes (empty for more than 6 months) in England in April 2007, 9% lower than the 308,438 in April 2003. There was also a fall in the number of areas with a high level of empty homes; the number of local authorities (LAs) where at least 3% of private properties are empty dropped from 40 in 2003 to 17 in 2007.

Empty homes accounted for 1.5% of all privately owned dwellings in England, a slight decrease on April 2003 (1.8%). Halifax said that seventeen LAs have a proportion of empty homes of at least 3.0% of the private dwelling stock, double or more the English average (1.5%).

All seventeen English LAs with the highest proportion of empty private homes are in the North of England with nine in the North West. The biggest proportion of private empty homes is in Liverpool (7.0%), nearly five times the average for England (1.5%). Pendle (5.2%) and Hartlepool (4.8%) have the second and third highest proportions of empty homes. There was a rise in the number of private empty homes in 13 of these 17 LAs during the past year, with a combined rise of 10,857 empty homes. At the other end of the scale, three LAs – Winchester, Braintree and South Somerset – have no empty homes.

Main Points
- There were 279,281 empty private homes in England in April 2007
- Empty homes account for 3% or more of all homes in 17 local authorities.
- The North West has the highest number of empty homes, at 61,450.
- There are 85,695 vacant public dwellings in England, accounting for 1.4% of the public dwelling stock.

Regional
Regionally, the North West has the highest number of empty homes, at 61,450, accounting for 22% of all the empty homes in England. Yorkshire and the Humber has the second highest number of empty homes (36,401), accounting for 13% of all empty homes in England. At the other end of the scale, the North East has the lowest number of empty homes, at 17,960.

As a percentage of total private dwelling stock, empty homes accounted for the largest proportion of all privately owned dwellings in the North West (2.5%), followed by the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber (both 2.0%). In contrast, empty homes account for just 1.0% of private dwelling stock in the South West and South East.

London
Over the past four years, the largest fall in empty homes was in London with a 0.8 percentage point drop from 1.9% to 1.1%. The number of empty homes has declined in seven of the nine English regions over the past four years.

Prices
The Halifax research found the average house price is below the regional average across all English LAs with a proportion of empty homes of at least 3.0% of the private dwelling stock with an average discount of 15% (£23,724). The largest discount is in Stoke-on-Trent, at £50,687, followed by Kingston upon Hull (£39,674) and Hyndburn (£35,926). Contrastingly, Winchester, which is among the LAs with no empty private homes, has an average house price that is £57,210 (23%) above the regional average.

Cost of restoring an empty home
Halifax estimates that the average cost of restoring an empty home is £30,420 and involves significant repair to many aspects of a house including plumbing, kitchen, windows, roof and wiring. On this basis, the average VAT payment for restoring an empty home vacant for less than two years would be £5,324, three and half times more than the VAT for restoring an empty home vacant for more than 2 years, which would attract an average VAT payment of £1,521.

It’s worth noting that the cost of restoring an empty home attracts the full rate of VAT (17.5%) unless the property has been vacant for more than two years when a reduced rate of 5% applies. A property vacant for more than 10 years, which is renovated and sold, attracts a zero rate of VAT. New build properties, by contrast, are not liable for VAT on construction costs.

Halifax calls on the government to extend the reduced 5% rate of VAT for restoring an empty home to all properties vacant for more than 6 months, not just properties vacant for more than 2 years. This will provide a more level playing field between individuals and local authorities. Typically, local authorities do not pay VAT on renovation activities.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, commented: “It is highly encouraging that the number of private empty homes in England has declined by nearly a tenth over the past four years. Nonetheless, it is concerning that the existence of empty homes remains a significant problem in a number of areas, particularly in the North of England. In some cases, the proportion of empty homes is more than double the national average.”

We would like the government to extend the 5% rate of VAT for renovating an empty home to all properties vacant for more than 6 months not just those properties that have been un-occupied for more than two years.”