Empty Homes Network

Analysis of the recently-released final figures for the October 2013 Council Taxbase return show no fewer than 86 local authorities from across the country opting out of the Empty Homes Premium (which can be levied on homes vacant for over two years). The 86 authorities (listed at the end of the article) are scattered across the country and there seems to be no common feature to distinguishe them from those that have declined to use the EHP measure. Of those that have decided to charge Empty Homes Premium, one has opted for 10%, two have opted for 25% and the rest have opted for 50% (the maximum allowable). The authorities with the most homes subject to EHP are, predictably, large regional cities. Six have over 1,000 of 2-year-plus empties:

Bradford 1,522
Birmingham 1,519
Liverpool 1,510
Durham UA 1,280
Manchester 1,245
Leeds 1,112

In all there are 56,055 homes that have been empty for over two years and are subject to the premium. But the authorities that have opted out include places such as Westminster, Calderdale, Stoke-on-Trent and Pendle - all of which could be expected to have a large number of two-year plus empties. The total figure would be a good deal higher if all authorities had imposed the charge. Anecdotally, the Empty Homes Premium has been effective in getting previously disengaged owners to engage - or simply to get on with bringing their homes back into use of their own volition. But some leading-light authorities such as Stoke and Amber Valley, widely known to be proactive and creative, have not pursued the measure. Presumably some of the low-demand authorities such as Pendle have concluded that their housing markets are so dysfunctional that it would be unfair to impose the premium. At the other end of the scale, authorities such as Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Cheltenham and the like may have had political reasons for not introducing the charge, such as not wanting to frighten off rich people who have a penchant for leaving their homes empty. Amongst those authorities charging EHP the median number of longer-term empties is 151. You can download the full dataset from our library here. This is for Full Members only so you'll need to be logged in to access it. Authorities not charging Empty Homes Premium

Amber Valley
Basildon
Blaby
Blackpool
Bolsover
Braintree
Brentwood
Bromley
Bromsgrove
Broxbourne
Calderdale
Canterbury
Carlisle
Castle Point
Charnwood
Cheltenham
Cherwell
Chichester
Chiltern
City of London
Cotswold
Dacorum
Daventry
Derbyshire Dales
Dover
Dudley
East Hertfordshire
East Staffordshire
Forest of Dean
Fylde
Gateshead
Gloucester
Gosport
Hambleton
Hammersmith and Fulham
Harborough
Harlow
Hart
Havering
Herefordshire
Hillingdon
Hinckley and Bosworth
Isles of Scilly
Kensington and Chelsea
Kingston upon Thames
Maidstone
Mansfield
Medway
Merton
Milton Keynes
New Forest
North East Derbyshire
North Lincolnshire
North Somerset
North Tyneside
North West Leicestershire
Pendle
Redditch
Ribble Valley
Richmondshire
Rochford
Rossendale
Rushcliffe
Selby
Shepway
Shropshire UA
Slough
South Bucks
South Northamptonshire
South Ribble
South Tyneside
Stevenage
Stoke-on-Trent
Stroud
Swale
Tendring
Tewkesbury
Thanet
Tonbridge and Malling
Uttlesford
Warrington
West Oxfordshire
Westminster
Wiltshire UA
Winchester
Wyre
Wyre Forest