“The number of empty homes in England increased by almost 11,000 last year, a study suggests, prompting calls for urgent action to bring them back into circulation to help tackle the housing crisis.
Research by the pressure group Action on Empty Homes and Nationwide building society indicates that last year saw the fastest rise in long-term empty homes in England since the recession. …
There are now more than 216,000 long-term empty homes in England, equivalent to 72% of the government’s annual new homes target, at a time when more than a million families are on waiting lists for local authority housing, said the report.
Empty homes are found in all council tax bands but are particularly prevalent in the highest band (band H) and the lowest (band A), the report added. …”
East Devon Watch 