A New Type of Property Show on TV - "Britain's Empty Homes"

bernard_shaw

Anyone else notice this through the week?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pxtzr

At last, some mainstream media acknowledgment that there is no shortage of property in the UK
http://www.emptyhomes.com/

There are nearly a million properties lying empty in the UK waiting for someone to come along to turn them into homes again. In this brand new series, Jules Hudson reveals the great potential vacant places can offer in terms of budget and lifestyle. We follow the work of the nation's Empty Property Officers whose job it is to get buildings sitting abandoned and neglected back into use as homes again. And we'll see how rescued wrecks have been transformed into beautiful homes again.

As a side note, be aware that the Empty Homes Agency does not class a home as empty if it is for sale - yet when I look at schedules for houses I'm interested in, it seems that about three-quarters of them are clearly empty.

The 'million properties lying empty' is just the tip of the property glut iceberg.

rictus123

I really think i can get onto the ladder and move up it accordingly at the age of 23, 25 at the latest. If i could find as many empty houses as possible(a bit out of my budget) at 20, by the time im 23 i think that length of time there wont be many left on the market from my list but im pretty sure i could get at least 1 at a total knockdown price. I need to get my plan anyway, i watched this programme on Thursday i think it was and though of all the potential money sitting doing nothing. Must be a reason half are not selling and dont say mortgages, i think people just dont see the value in them.

[Deleted User]

The trouble is, it can take more money to do up an empty, derelict place than it does to build a completely new one.

When I moved into my new home in Glasgow 10 years ago (in a 'nice' estate), the streets just around the block from me had rows and rows of houses (local authority properties) with metal shutters on them. It was horrible. Amongst these you'd find perhaps one or two lived in houses. I guess they could have been done up, but a few years ago they were all demolished and new private houses were built in their place. It's improved the area no end.

The area I've recently moved to had rows of boarded up housing along it's main street until a few years ago. What flats were left were populated by drug dealers and junkies. They were demolished a few years ago and lovely new local authority houses put in their place. They look no different from new build private housing. Some of these are rental properties and others are part-buy / part-rent. Again, it's improved the area no end.

But sure, they say it's a sign that an area is really 'up and coming' when individuals (rather than local authorities) start buying property to do up. I guess that those that already live in run down areas don't have the cash to do it. It takes outside money.

But perhaps a great opportunity for those with deposits that can't get the type of home they want for the money they have? Especially if they have the necessary skills or have friends/relatives that do!

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

bernard_shaw wrote: »

At last, some mainstream media acknowledgment that there is no shortage of property in the UK

Although they do acknowledge much, or even most, of it is uninhabiltable.

The programme follows the work of the nation's Empty Property Officers whose job it is to get buildings sitting abandoned and neglected back into use as homes again. And they follow how rescued wrecks have been transformed into beautiful homes again .

And here's an example of those "empty" homes, from the empty home agencies own website.




Lovely, aren't they?

Yes, a million empty homes, exactly where we need them, all ready to move into with just a lick of paint and a bit of TLC....:rolleyes:

Which of course is utter tripe. If we had a million such empty homes, prices could not rise by the 10% they have in the last 10 months, with restricted lending, in the middle of a recession.:rolleyes:

As a side note, be aware that the Empty Homes Agency does not class a home as empty if it is for sale - yet when I look at schedules for houses I'm interested in, it seems that about three-quarters of them are clearly empty.

The head of the empty homes agency has admnitted that 50% of the supposed million empty homes are only empty for 6 months or so for entirely normal reasons, like refurbishment, probate, etc.

The 'million properties lying empty' is just the tip of the property glut iceberg.

The number of homes for sale in the UK has fallen from 1.1 million pre crash, to just 650,000 today. We now also have RICS reporting record low levels of instructions for rental homes coming onto the market.

A declining supply of homes for sale, and homes to rent, yet at the same time population has grown by 400,000 people last year, and a similar amount the year before.

Sorry, but your argument is clearly fallacious.

PasturesNew

I saw the programme. That presenter irritates the hell out of me - he's been on some programmes before and has a very annoying laugh and seems completely on another planet to the people he's showing round, he doesn't seem to be listening to them at all.

Also, most of the properties he is showing people round on this programme aren't what I'd call empty at all. One, for example, from yesterday, was a privately owned flat where the LL had decided to sell it and the tenants had moved out two months prior. So, to me, that's just "on the market", not "empty".

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

rictus123 wrote: »

Must be a reason half are not selling and dont say mortgages, .

Mortgages.:D

Or rather the fact that most of them are unmortgageable in their present state. Because they are not homes at all, but uninhabitable wrecks.

wageslave

An imaginative government or LA might offer these homes to people for a quid with guaranteed low interest loans to make them habitable.

If nothing else it would make a decent soundbite coming up to a general election.

rictus123

If someone is proved to have the income to support mortgage payments easy enough plus enough money for making the house habitable, i believe they should be allowed 100% mortgages. Well maybe not 100% but 95% at least.Because surley you have 95% LTV(if thats what you call it hamish? lol ) and you spend £xk doing it up and renovating it, making a house a home then the value has gone up and yes you only put down 5% but now you dont have a 95% mortgage, you could have a 65% mortgage say? If you did the work then remortgaged obviously.


Go on then Hamish, tell me the flaws in my flawless plan

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

rictus123 wrote: »

Go on then Hamish, tell me the flaws in my flawless plan

The person doesn't finish the job, and the bank is left with a wreck, with a mortgage on it.

I actually don't have an issue with this, if we could get some of these properties back into circulation it can only help, the shortage is that great.

It's just the meaningless and clearly fallacious soundbite of there being a million empty homes that annoys me.

bernard_shaw

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

The head of the empty homes agency has admnitted that 50% of the supposed million empty homes are only empty for 6 months or so for entirely normal reasons, like refurbishment, probate, etc.

In what way does that mean that they are not empty?

StevieJ

bernard_shaw wrote: »

In what way does that mean that they are not empty?

I think most people will be under the impression that you mean long-term

There are nearly a million properties lying empty in the UK waiting for someone to come along to turn them into homes again