Nearly 300,000 English homes standing empty
Nov 06, 2006
A short housing supply may be giving house prices a boost in some parts of the country, but there are nearly 300,000 homes standing empty in England, new figures show.
The Empty Homes survey from Halifax reveals that the equivalent of 1.6 per cent of the privately-owned homes in England have been empty for more than six months.
Of the 21 local authorities with the highest levels of empty homes, nine are in the north-west, with 19 of the 21 areas ranking among the 20 per cent most deprived areas in the country. The cost of restoring an empty home attracts the full VAT rate of 17.5 per cent unless it has been empty for more than three years, in which case five per cent VAT is charged.
With home improvements among the most popular reasons for taking out a personal loan, Halifax has estimated that the cost of renovating the average empty home would be about £28,788, including costs for repairs to plumbing, kitchen, windows, roof and wiring.
Group economist at Halifax, Tim Crawford, called on the government to extend the five per cent VAT rate for renovation to properties empty for more than six months, as an incentive for more to be restored.
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