Housing shortage? I don't think so.....

Not according to Shelter.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_issues/the_housing_crisis#0

An 'empty house' in your figures represents someone (or a family) who has had to leave it. Do you think these people have vanished?

• Nearly 1.7 million households are currently on local authority housing waiting lists[2]
• more than one million children in England live in bad housing [3]
• in 2006/07, 554,000 households in England were overcrowded [4]
• In 2007 repossessions rose to 27,100 from 22,400 the previous year, and it is predicted that 45,000 homes will be repossessed in 2008.[5]
• 8.1 million homes in England fail to meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard[6]
• the UK is now more polarised by housing wealth than at any time since the Victorian era
• in 2007, almost 100,000 households were found to be homeless by local authorities - almost twice as many as in 1997 [7]
• during 2006/07, Shelter services in England worked with nearly 3,900 single men, women and couples without children, who were street homeless[8]
• at the end of December 2007, 79,500 households were living in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities. Nearly 60,000 of these households had dependent children. [9]

!!!!!!? wrote: »

It is estimated that there were 943,414 empty homes in the UK in 2007. In England there were 762,635, 50,000 in Northern Ireland, 63,000 in Wales and 67,000 in Scotland. Figures from the Empty Homes Agency, a charity, will show that the number of empty homes in England had the biggest annual jump for nearly 20 years as the recession started to bite.

There were 697,000 empty homes in England in 2008, according to the charity.

That is a rise of 24,000 in a year.

762,635 empty homes in England in 2007
697,000 empty homes in England in 2008

Eh not sure what the craic is here?

Those figures are not right.

Surely that is a DROP in the number of empty homes between 2007 and 2008?

I came across this article from Oct 2007

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article2686130.ece

Empty homes: the mystery of the UK’s million vacant homes

Lorna Blackwood investigates the mystery of the UK’s million vacant homes



Firstly a million homes were vacant in the boom.
This article says:-

1)National Land Use Database figures indicate that a further 420,000 homes could be established in disused commercial properties in England, including former pubs and space above shops.

Not exactly Prime location

2)Why are so many properties left empty? ....
The Empty Homes Agency points to two main causes. Many homes remain empty because they are in a very poor condition – perhaps needing a new roof – and the owner is unable or unwilling to spend the money to put things right. Once a home is empty, its condition can quickly deteriorate, pushing the cost of making the home habitable still higher.

Doesn't sound like some prime location either. A northern slum area perhaps that needs knocking down and grassed over?

3)Another factor is speculation, where a buyer has bought a property for its investment potential but does not wish to find tenants. David Ireland, chief executive of the Empty Homes Agency, says that this is a growing problem, especially in the new-build market, which has attracted “buy-to-leave” investors who take the view that keeping the property empty will extend its new-build premium. House prices in recent years have made this worse, as generous capital appreciation has reduced the need of some buyers to secure rental income.

If you could afford to buy-to-leave before you probably still don't have to worry.

Are you worried !!!!!!? - just a joke honest;):D