England Empty Homes Statistics: Complete Regional Data & Analysis
England's empty homes crisis continues to challenge the nation's housing market, with over 272,257 long-term vacant properties (empty for 6 months or more) scattered across the country - enough housing to accommodate more than 650,000 people (with 2.4 people per home).
This comprehensive guide includes an Empty Homes Explorer Tool that helps you examine the statistics for vacant buildings across England, by regions and local authorities.
Article updated: March 2025.
England Empty Homes Statistics Summary 2025
Across England, there are currently 272,257 long-term empty homes out of a total 25,675,421 dwellings, representing a 1.06% vacancy rate nationwide. The most severe vacancy issues appear in parts of the North East and North West, with Durham (4,090 empty homes), Liverpool (3,627), and North Yorkshire (3,755) showing the highest absolute numbers. London boroughs facing significant challenges include Kingston upon Thames (2.77% vacancy rate), Kensington & Chelsea (2.03%), and Southwark (2,354 empty homes). The data reveals a slight increase in vacant properties since 2023, when 269,395 homes stood empty across England.
-
by Robert Jones, Founder of Property Investments UK
With nearly two decades in UK property, Rob has been investing in buy-to-let since 2005, and uses property data to develop tools for property market analysis.
Property Data Sources
Our location guide relies on diverse, authoritative datasets including:
- HM Land Registry UK House Price Index
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Council Taxbase Statistics
We update our empty homes statistics annually to ensure accuracy. Last update: March 2025. Next update: March 2026. All data is presented as provided by our sources without adjustments or amendments.
Empty Homes Statistics Generator
Select your local authority to generate statistics about empty homes in your area. Perfect for researchers, journalists, councils, and local residents.
Your generated local authority empty homes stats will appear here after selecting a region and local authority.
National Empty Homes Statistics
The data below provides a comprehensive overview of long-term empty homes across England as of the latest Government data published in December 2024.
Long-term empty properties are defined as residential dwellings that have been unoccupied for more than six months.
The empty home statistics are compiled from all local authorities across England using their local council tax data, and reporting cut off date of October 2024.
They help provide valuable insights for local residents, policy makers, central government and housing organisations working to address the empty homes crisis.
Empty Homes Data Explorer 2024
Use this interactive tool to explore official Council Tax data showing empty homes across England by region and local authority. Data updated by Local Authorities October 2024 and released by Government December 2024.
England (National)
2024 Data
2023 Data
Year-on-Year Comparison
Financial Impact
Showing data for: England | Sorted by: Empty Ratio (High to Low)
Data source: Council Taxbase Local Authority Level Data 2024.
© 2025 www.propertyinvestmentsuk.co.uk. Love our Empty Homes Explorer tool? Please share this page with attribution.
Empty Homes in England: 12-Year Analysis (2013-2024)
Interactive dashboard showing trends in long-term empty properties across England
Empty Homes Trend (2013-2024)
Empty Homes Ratio % (2013-2024)
Year-on-Year Change in Empty Homes
Value of Empty Homes (£ Billions)
Key Insights (2013-2024)
2013-2016: Consistent Decline
Empty homes decreased year-on-year from 232,600 to 215,139, representing a 7.5% reduction over this period.
2017-2019: Reversal and Increase
The trend reversed with empty homes increasing to 237,594 by 2019, potentially influenced by economic and policy changes.
2020: Pandemic Spike
A dramatic 17% increase to 278,470 empty homes, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting market disruption.
2021-2024: Post-Pandemic Recovery and Growth
After an initial drop in 2021, empty homes have steadily increased to 272,257 by 2024, approaching the pandemic peak amid rising property values.
Source: Council Taxbase Local Authority Level Data 2013-2024 | HM Land Registry UK House Price Index
Analysis by Property Investments UK | © 2025 | www.propertyinvestmentsuk.co.uk
Empty Homes Data Explorer Notes
Notes referencing the data usage for the tools above:
- Empty homes data source - Council Taxbase Statistics
- Sold hour price data source - HM Land Registry UK House Price Index
Data for (1) is using:
- Table 1.01 Total Number of Dwellings on Valuation List (Line 1)
- Table 1.16. Number of dwellings that are classed as empty by October of that year and have been for more than 6 months (Line 16)
Data for (2) is using:
- Average sold house price for 'all property types' by location
- Date used for sold house price data is December of each year to match the reporting of the dataset for the Council Taxbase statistics that is also released on December of each year.
Assumptions:
- There is no perfect way to estimate property values as no dataset is publicly available with exact property addresses and individual valuations. So a simple approach has been used of taking the average sold house price x number of empty homes. This gives a directionally correct estimate for total asset values for the area.
Conclusion
Our Empty Homes Explorer tool serves as a free resource for local residents, academics, local authorities, housing organisations, community groups and journalists working to address housing utilisation challenges across England.
England's 272,257 long-term empty homes represent both a housing resource and a community challenge across the nation. While the overall 1.06% vacancy rate provides a national benchmark, significant local variations highlight where targeted interventions may be most effective.
For an insight into the solutions at local authority level, below are reviews on what grants, funding and lease schemes are available in each local authority to help owners bring these homes back into the use for residents.