Empty homes rise to 300,000

A north-south divide has been revealed in the number of UK homes left empty for longer than six months.

The north-west of England currently has 66,691 empty homes, accounting for 22 per cent of the country's total, according to the latest Empty Homes survey by Halifax.

This number represents 2.6 per cent of all private homes in the area, again the worst in the country.

By contrast London, the south-east and the south-west have the lowest proportion of long-term empty private homes at just 1.1 per cent.

The divide was revealed by figures showing that the number of empty private homes in England has now risen to 303,285, the highest number since April 2008.

When houses left empty for any period of time are taken into account, the number rises to 613,270.

Suren Thiru, an economist at Halifax, said: "It is concerning that there are over 300,000 private homes in England that have been empty for more than six months and that the number has increased recently following several years of decline.

"In many cases, high levels of long-term empty homes reflect relatively high levels of deprivation, low average earnings and high unemployment."

Get a landlords insurance quote today from Simple Landlords Insurance.