Coventry "blighted" by rising number of empty homes

Campaigners say the houses could be brought back into use to help families in need of social housing



More than 1,000 homes in Coventry have been lying empty for six months or more, figures show.

Housing charity Action on Empty Homes has warned that empty homes reveal the "stark reality" of the country's "broken" housing market.

In September there were 1,336 long-term empty homes in the area - homes that campaigners say could be brought back into use to help families in need of social housing.

The number of long-term empty homes had been falling in Coventry between 2010 (1,565) and 2015 (1,080), but started to rise again in 2016 (1,150).

In total, 2,568 properties in Coventry were found by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to be "unoccupied and substantially unfurnished".

That means half of the vacant properties in the area had been sitting empty for six months or more.

Next year local authorities will have the power to double council tax on homes left empty for two years or more - a premium currently capped at 50%.

In Coventry the council charged a premium on 391 longer-term empty homes.

This is the staggering number of empty houses in Nuneaton

Over 1,500 houses in Nuneaton are standing empty, figures show.

Government figures show that across the UK there are 605,891 empty homes and 1,537 of these are in Nuneaton.

What's more, 614 of these have been empty for at least six months.

And since 2013 this is the highest number of long-term empty properties, though the overall number of empty homes has fallen slightly since 2014.

But despite that decrease, 2017 marked an increase from 2016, rising from 1,460 to 1,537.

Government statistics do not include derelict properties that could be refurbished or second homes that are rarely occupied.

Polly Neate, chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, said: "Looking at the figures today, it's exasperating to see that the number of empty properties has increased at a time when there are so many families without a safe and secure place to call home."

"Some of these homes will be empty for good reason, and others are in the wrong place to offer any kind of practical solution for those in desperate need of a home."