Halifax calls for lower VAT on empty homes

The fifth annual Halifax survey of Empty Homes in England, based on data from the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) and Halifax's own extensive housing database, showed that there were 279,281 empty private homes in England in April 2007, 9 per cent lower than the 308,438 recorded in April 2003.

Empty homes account for 3 per cent or more of all homes in 17 local authorities, including Liverpool, Pendle and Hartlepool.A staggering seven per cent of all private homes in Liverpool (10,396) were empty.

These areas have a proportion of empty homes that is at least double the average for England as a whole, which is 1.5 per cent.

All seventeen local authorities with a high proportion of empty private homes are outside Southern England with the majority in the North West.

The data shows that the North West has the highest number of empty homes throughout England, standing at 61,450 and accounting for 22 per cent of all the empty homes in England.

There are also 85,695 vacant public dwellings in England, accounting for 1.4 per cent of the public dwelling stock. Eight local authorities have more than 5 per cent of their public dwelling stock vacant, including Hartlepool and Alnwick, and seven of which are in the north of England.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, said: "It is highly encouraging that the number of private empty homes in England has declined by nearly a tenth over the past four years.

"Nonetheless, it is concerning that the existence of empty homes remains a significant problem in a number of areas, particularly in the North of England. In some cases, the proportion of empty homes is more than double the national average.

"We would like the government to extend the 5 per cent rate of VAT for renovating an empty home to all properties vacant for more than six months not just those properties that have been unoccupied for more than two years."