Posh Kensington & Chelsea has London’s highest number of empty homes

New study shows

England has 200,145 long-term empty homes which, according to research by property investment marketplace Property Partner, are worth more than £43bn.

In London alone, there were 19,845 homes sitting idle for over six months in 2016 – that is £9.4billion worth of property, taking into account the average price in London of £474,704*.

Birmingham was the worst performer outside London with 4,397 properties sitting empty – up 13 per cent in a year – with an estimated value of £956m. Bradford had the second highest figure at 3,944 (down 5 per cent valued at £858m) followed by Liverpool on 3,449 (up 5 per cent valued at £750m).

Manchester has seen the greatest fall over a decade, dropping 88 per cent to 1,365.

The tables have turned in London where one of the most deprived areas has swapped places with one of the wealthiest as the capital’s worst performer.

Prime property hotspot Kensington & Chelsea has London’s highest number of long-term vacant homes with 1,399 empty, up 8.5 per cent on last year and a rise of 22.7 per cent in a decade. Taking into account the Royal Borough’s unusually high average property prices, this would give the homes an estimated value of £2bn.

Previously, last place in the capital had gone to Newham which has staged a remarkable turnaround in 12 months, slashing the number of empty homes by 55 per cent to 593 from 1,318 in 2015.

Property Partner analysed the latest data from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG)**, looking at long-term vacant dwellings in England between 2005 and 2016.

Over the last decade the number of long-term vacant homes in England has dropped 36.4 per cent from 314,719 in 2006 but it has barely moved year-on-year, showing a drop of 35 per cent in the decade to 2015. The estimated value of empty property in England now stands at £43.5billion.

Harrow saw the biggest rise in England with an astonishing 571 per cent climb to 651 from 97 in 2015.

Blackburn has seen the biggest rise outside London with a 32 per cent rise in a year with 1,563 vacant homes. Blackpool just crept into the worst 20 town/cities outside London (below) but achieved the greatest percentage reduction outside London, falling 26 per cent in a year.

The following table shows long-term vacant properties for the worst-affected 20 towns and cities in England (excluding London) and the total estimated value, calculated from the latest average UK property price of £217,502*.

Source: DCLG