Over 11,000 homes have stood empty for at least 10 years, data shows | Society | The Guardian

Over 11,000 homes have stood empty for at least 10 years, data shows | Society | The Guardian

 The government has said it would allow local authorities to raise the council tax premium from 50% to 100% to encourage owners of empty homes to bring them back into use. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Rowena Mason Deputy political editor

Mon 1 Jan ‘18 15.19 GMTLast modified on Tue 2 Jan ‘18 00.55 GMT

Shares

2,806

More than 11,000 homes across the country have been lying empty for longer than a decade despite the housing crisis and rising homelessness, according to new research by the Liberal Democrats.

The data was collected through freedom of information requests to about 275 councils, which showed 60,000 properties had been empty for two years or more, 23,000 for five years or more, and over 11,000 have stood empty for at least 10 years.