New research by HomeProtect has revealed that an astonishing £10.7 billion’s worth of properties are sitting empty in London. The total number of long-term unoccupied (6 months or more) properties in the capital rose by 2.8% between 2013 and 2018 to a total of 22,481, which accounts for 0.63% of all properties in the city.

The most vacant dwellings in London are located in Southwark and Croydon

• There are 1,766 unoccupied properties in Southwark, while Croydon comes in a close second with 1,521 vacant dwellings
•  Barking and Dagenham has the lowest number of unoccupied properties in London, with just 106 sitting empty
• The City of London and Croydon have seen the largest increase in the number of unoccupied properties between 2013 and 2018, both rising by 81%
• Westminster has seen the largest decrease in the number of unoccupied properties, dropping by 394%

The highest volumes of unoccupied properties in London are situated in the boroughs of Southwark and Croydon, while Barking and Dagenham boasts the lowest number of empty dwellings. Nearly 1 in 10 of all homes in Southwark are sitting empty (1,766 properties).

While there has been an increase of unoccupied properties across London as a whole over the five-year period between 2013-2018, these changes fluctuate between boroughs. The City of London and Croydon both experienced the greatest increase in empty homes, with a positive difference of 81% in each. Westminster, on the other hand, saw a dramatic decrease of 394% less vacant dwellings.

Property expert, Emily Evans, explains that the rise of AirBnB has played a large role in the growing number of empty properties in the capital:

“The Government have made it difficult to be a landlord, so it isn’t that much of a lucrative market. Landlords are now selling up or choosing to adopt the ‘AirBnB’ holiday home model, over a traditional residential let. Southwark especially has a lot of part-time homes and AirBnBs. However, further south in Southwark is classed as more of an ‘up and coming’ area, meaning a lot of properties will be being bought and renovated.”

There are £1.5 billion’s worth of empty homes in Kensington and Chelsea alone

• There are 1,115 empty homes in Kensington and Chelsea, which have a combined value of nearly £1.5 billion
• The empty homes in Camden have a combined value of £1.1 billion, with 1,210 unoccupied properties in the borough
• Southwark has approximately £877 million’s worth of empty properties, based on an average house price of £496,612 in the borough

The collective worth of all unoccupied properties across London is a huge £10.7 billion. £1.5 billion’s worth of this total is situated in Kensington and Chelsea alone, based on an average house price of £1,295,861 in the borough, and a further £1.1 billion in Camden, based on an average house price of £917,594.