Are Empty Homes a problem for landlords?

October 23, 2022

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
So Far in 2022

Number of Vacant Houses
So Far in 2022

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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