Nearly 700,000 homes empty

17th October, 2005

New research has shown that there are hundreds of thousands of houses wastefully lying vacant across the UK, having a detrimental effect on house prices and raising insurance quotes.

Research by Halifax has shown that there are 689,675 empty homes in England, which is a frightful waste, given that there are over 100,000 households across the country living in temporary accommodation.

Living next door to an empty house increases the likelihood of crime in the area, deterring any prospective homebuyers, while also raising the cost of a good home insurance policy.

Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax, commented: 'While the number of empty homes in England has been getting lower over the past five years, a significant number of properties are still vacant.

'It is in the interest of the whole community to eradicate the empty home problem. Apart from the social benefits of bringing homes back into use, house prices tend to be lower in areas with a high number of empty homes.'

Tower Hamlets in east London is perhaps the worst case, with 3.3 per cent of its residents currently in temporary accommodation, while 7.1 per cent of the local housing stock stands vacant.

Anyone inhabitants of such an area should ensure that they have a good quality home insurance policy, so as to ensure that they are covered against the increased danger of being a victim of burglary that comes of living in an area with a lot of vacant housing.

 

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