Number of empty homes falling

The number of empty homes in the UK has fallen by six per cent in the three years to April 2006, according to Halifax.

The firm's annual empty homes study has however revealed that remained more almost 290,000 empty homes across the country at that point – equivalent to 1.6 per cent of all privately-owned homes.

Furthermore, empty homes account for three per cent of the private housing stock in 15 local authorities, according to the study.

"It is encouraging that the number of empty homes in England has fallen by nearly 20,000 over the past three years, but it is also notable that the problem has become worse in many areas with the highest number of empty homes," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.

"We would like the government to extend the five per cent rate of VAT for renovating an empty home to all properties vacant for more than six months not just those properties that have been un-occupied for more than two years," Mr Ellis added.

The government intends to build three million new homes by 2020 under plans unveiled by Gordon Brown earlier this year.

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