Owners miss massive potential income by keeping homes empty

New research shows an estimated £200 billion worth of property sat vacant across Britain’s housing market - up 2.1 per cent on a year ago. 

Estate agency Barrows and Forrester analysed government data on the number of vacant dwellings across each area of the property market as well as the average value of these dwellings, to reveal just how much the empty homes are worth in current market conditions. 

With 665,628 vacant dwellings, England has an £190 billion worth of empty homes, with London having the highest total value of all English regions, with 80,295 empty homes worth an estimated £41 billion. 

The capital has also seen the largest annual increase in vacant dwellings stock, up 12 per cent in the last year.

The South East and East of England also rank high, with an estimated £36.2 and £22.9 billion worth of vacant dwellings across their respective markets. 

The North East has the lowest total value of vacant dwellings of all English regions, but still boasts 43,735 empty homes estimated to be worth £6.5 billion in current market conditions. 

In Scotland, the total value of vacant dwellings sits at almost £8 billion, while Wales is home to the lowest total value at £5.2 billion.

The managing director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, comments: “We currently find ourselves in the middle of a property market boom and huge levels of buyer demand and insufficient stock to satisfy this hunger for homeownership have pushed house prices to record highs.

“While there’s arguably never been a better time to sell, there remains a huge number of homes sat empty across the nation and the value of these vacant properties is quite staggering, to say the least.”