Hundreds of thousands of homes are left vacant across England as levels of homelessness reach record levels in parts of the country. 

Recent ONS figures show a 39% increase in over-60s seeking help, up from 1,800 in 2012-13 to 2,500 five years later. In contrast, there are currently more than 200,000 properties sitting vacant in England.

That’s nearly 1% of the total number of properties in the entire country. But, with a growing population, why are so many homes remaining unoccupied?

In light of Empty Homes Week, this new study from HomeProtect combines their own data along with government figures to identify the areas with the highest volume of vacant dwellings and how things have changed over the last five years. 

Some key findings from the study included:

• The areas that experienced the most dramatic increase in empty homes between 2013-2018 are The City of London and Croydon, which have each seen an 81% rise.
• Outside of London, Birmingham takes the number one spot for the highest number of vacant properties of all other districts (4.3k), closely followed by Bradford (4.1k) and Liverpool (3.7k).
• Smaller coastal towns and cities are also experiencing a high volume of empty homes and this is because they’re being used as holiday homes.

You can view the full report here: https://www.homeprotect.co.uk/blog/most-unoccupied-houses-england