Are Empty Homes a problem for landlords?
With surging demand for rental properties, it has recently been recorded that there are over 44,000 vacant houses across the cities in England. Where do the patterns lie?
Cash House Buying specialists Open Property Group have conducted research looking at the Number of Vacant Houses in England so far in 2022 along with the Number of 2022 New Build House sales.
Birmingham has topped the ranks with 5,496 homes currently sitting empty across the Midlands city.
Are landlords struggling to rent out their rental properties despite the rising demand due to surging interest rates presenting barriers for people wanting to get on the property ladder?
Other data from the research does in fact paint a different picture – the Cities with the lowest number of empty homes are Cambridge with 310 and Gloucester with 391.
In the current climate, National Statistics Data highlight that cities in the Midlands seem to be struggling the most with New Build House Sales, with Nottingham recording only 2 new builds sold so far in 2022, and Leicester recording just 6.
When correlating vacant houses available vs new build house sales so far this year:
- Birmingham have 5,496 vacant houses with New Build House Sales of 337
- Liverpool have 4,880 vacant houses with New Build House Sales of 114
- Sheffield have 2,838 vacant houses with New Build House Sales of 44
- Leeds have 2,693 vacant houses with New Build House Sales of 274
Are the increasing development of New Build houses the solution, or part of the problem? Openpropertygroup.com Managing Director, Jason Harris-Cohen said:
“As an industry, we have to step back and look at the statistics, then delve a little deeper to see the true picture. New build homes are always sold at a premium but with rising mortgage rates and the cost-of-living crisis biting, buyers look to be compromising already, with relatively low numbers of new homes sales despite aggressive house building programmes.
There is an exceptional gap in the market for vacant properties to be revitalised and released back onto the open market, for sale at attractive price points. They don’t have to be luxurious or cutting edge – they just need to be safe, clean and a value-for-money way for people to get on or move up the property ladder.
Much is made in the media of a ‘chronic housing shortage’ but the statistics don’t always support this headline. Figures released by the Government’s Homes England department states 37,164 houses were completed between 1st April 2021 and 31st March 2022, with another 38,436 started on-site. When you couple this with over 44,000 vacant properties so far in 2022, the question is ‘why are there so many vacant properties and unsold new builds?’. The industry needs to look at the existing stock we have, how it is utilised and what buyers can afford in the current climate.”
|
CITIES |
Number of New Build House Sales |
Number of Vacant Houses |
Vacant Houses vs New Build Gap |
|
Birmingham |
337 |
5,496 |
5,159 |
|
Liverpool |
114 |
4,880 |
4,766 |
|
Sheffield |
44 |
2,838 |
2,794 |
|
Leeds |
274 |
2,693 |
2,419 |
|
Manchester |
249 |
2,130 |
1,881 |
|
Sunderland |
80 |
2,086 |
2,006 |
|
Stoke-on-Trent |
20 |
1,892 |
1,872 |
|
Newcastle Upon Tyne |
212 |
1,796 |
1,584 |
|
Leicester |
6 |
1,777 |
1,771 |
|
Coventry |
70 |
1,729 |
1,659 |
|
Wakefield |
263 |
1,469 |
1,206 |
|
Nottingham |
2 |
1,463 |
1,461 |
|
Brighton |
20 |
1,354 |
1,334 |
|
Wolverhampton |
94 |
1,327 |
1,233 |
|
Portsmouth |
56 |
1,208 |
1,152 |
|
Salford |
301 |
1,187 |
886 |
|
Derby |
44 |
1,168 |
1,124 |
|
Bristol |
122 |
1,108 |
986 |
|
Lancaster |
51 |
905 |
854 |
|
Plymouth |
56 |
670 |
614 |
|
Carlisle |
68 |
656 |
588 |
|
York |
63 |
645 |
582 |
|
Norwich |
30 |
622 |
592 |
|
Peterborough |
193 |
611 |
418 |
|
Exeter |
79 |
498 |
419 |
|
Oxford |
26 |
436 |
410 |
|
Worcester |
32 |
393 |
361 |
|
St Albans |
46 |
392 |
346 |
|
Gloucester |
55 |
391 |
336 |
|
Cambridge |
25 |
310 |
285 |
Sources: 2022 National Statistics House Price Statistics For Small Areas (Newly built dwellings) & Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants)
For more information please visit www.openpropertygroup.com
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