BBC programme, The Truth About Property, claimed that one in 30 properties in the UK was currently sitting empty. With the government pledging to build more houses by 2020 to plug the gap between demand and supply, it has been claimed that the stock already exists and only needs to be redeveloped.
Ministers have already pledged to build an extra 100 houses a day for the next 13 years to meet the demand for new homes, with the Prime Minister aiming to create three million homes by 2020.
David Ireland, chief executive of the Empty Homes Agency, said: “We estimate that there are about 840,000 empty homes in the UK at the moment. There are two main reasons why homes are empty; one is owners who can’t afford to put them right and they’re in an uninhabitable condition, and the other reason is people invest in property and leaving them empty still makes an income. This really isn’t solving the problem of housing supply.”
Katy John, from campaign website pricedout.org, said: “It is a waste and something has gone wrong somewhere. There are people in their 20s that have left university and would have really made those houses homes. It’s those people that councils should be providing houses to and those people will pay back into the area.”
Richard Carson, sales and marketing manager at Salans, said: “It depends on whether it is an eyesore or a protected building, but if we have a shortage of housing it seems a shame not to use them.”
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