New research has found that there are now enough empty properties across Britain to solve the country’s ever-worsening homelessness crisis a full three times over.
The study, conducted by Estate Agents Barrows and Forrester using official government data, found that there were a total of 735,095 vacant properties across Britain – worth a staggering £200bn on current estimates.
London alone comprised around a fifth of the total value of empty properties, being home to more than 80,000 empty homes worth an estimated £41bn.
London also saw the largest annual increase in vacant dwellings, increasing by 12% from last year.
In England as a whole, the research revealed there are currently 665,628 empty homes, worth approximately £190bn.
In Scotland there were 43,766 empty properties, valued at £8bn in total – whilst in Wales 25,701 empty dwellings were recorded, valued at £5.2bn.
In total, the study found that there were 735,095 vacant properties across the whole of Britain – up 2.1% from last year.
Staggeringly, this number of empty properties would be enough to solve Britain’s homelessness crisis three times over.
In 2018, a Yougov poll found that 54% of Brits thought homelessness was impossible to solve.
However, attitudes do seem to be changing – a Crisis survey conducted two years later in 2020 found that 60% of respondents believe that homelessness could be eradicated with Government support.
Research conducted by homelessness charity Crisis revealed that there were almost 230,000 households in Britain experiencing statutory homelessness in December 2021 – a figure that has increased by almost 90,000 since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
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