The government says a raft of measures it has introduced means the number of empty homes across the UK is now at “an all-time low.”
It says the number of empty homes was 318,642 in 2004 but last year was around a third less at 203,596.
It claims that measures helping create this change include:
- rewarding councils for bringing empty homes back in to use through the New Homes Bonus;
- actively bringing over 106,000 empty homes will be back into use;
- introducing charges on certain ownership categories to prevent residential property being held through companies left empty; and
- ensuring Capital Gains Tax is due on gains made by foreign owners who sell residential property here in the UK “much of which is left empty” according to the Department of Communities and Local Government.
“We’re turning around the housing market and making sure the best use is made of all housing including empty homes. We’re very clear that a house should be a home which is why we have taken action to stop homes being bought up and left as an empty investment” says housing minister Brandon Lewis.
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Hmm, forgive me for being sceptical about this latest piece of government spin. My experiences, and what I hear from friends and fellow landlords, doesn't tally with the above.
Agreed. None of this tallies with my experience. We're always being told how many empty homes are not in use, now we're being told that this problem has been magically resolved. When did that happen? Do the Buy-to-Leave homes no longer count as empty?
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