- 16
- Jun
It has been reported that almost 290,000 houses are sitting empty across England despite the fact that a housing shortage is blamed for the spiralling house prices in the past decade.
The report published by Halifax bank shows that although there are an estimated 289,000 homes sitting empty for six months or longer, only a dozen orders have been granted to take control of empty property since the introduction of new rules back in 2006.
The amount of homes that are empty far outstrips the government’s targets of building 240,000 new properties a year,
Whilst the number of empty properties has been going down as prices for homes increased, the fall in the number of vacant houses does not correspond with the rapid rise in house price inflation.
Between April of 2003 and April of 2006 the number of empty properties decreased by 19,675 or 6% of the total number of vacant properties. In the same period the average cost of a home went up by 34% from £134,500 to £179,800.
The shortage in housing has been one of the most cited reasons for the massive rise in house prices over the past decade and the Government even raised the annual building target to 240,000 per year.
Many critics have criticised government targets for encouraging an oversupply of flats in city centres while ignoring the need for more family homes, this is only worsening affordability issues plaguing the housing market.
The majority of empty homes are found in rundown areas which without some investment are not suitable for living in. As house prices continue to fall, some first-time buyers may find themselves able to afford a renovation project like this. That is supposing they can get the loan necessary to fund the purchase. With banks and lenders withdrawing mortgage products from the market, it is now increasingly hard to find an affordable home loan.
