Concern mounts over empty houses

Two thirds of British homeowners believe the government needs to take tougher action to tackle the problem of empty homes in the UK.

That is according to Halifax, whose research recently revealed the extent of the problem - along with its detrimental effects on property prices across the country.

The research from the bank finds there were 288,763 empty properties in the UK during December 2007, equating to 1.7 per cent of the nation's housing stock.

Furthermore, up to 22 per cent of homeowners believe empty homes in close proximity to their property reduce its value, as well as a further 25 per cent who thought the phenomenon would reduce the number of potential buyers.

Now, concerned homeowners have begun to show their support for Halifax's calls for the government to address the issue.

According to research from the bank some 64 per cent of Brits believe the government needs to do more to combat the empty homes issue.

Halifax also called for a unified policy in offering council tax reductions to empty properties, thus ending the present situation which sees local authorities offer various discounts.

The bank called for a 50 per cent reduction for a maximum of 12 months, a policy which attracted the support of 69 per cent of respondents.

"It's great to see that the public is behind our campaign to bring empty homes back into the housing stock," said Jaedon Green, head of mortgage sales at Halifax.

"Halifax calls on the government to extend existing VAT and Council tax discounts to encourage the renovation of empty houses, thus making them homes."