Empty homes don’t just sit on streets across England, they blight communities, contribute to neighbourhood decline and, where concentrated, turn once-desirable areas into housing of last

resort. Those with housing choices leave, those with none find themselves trapped in substandard

accommodation. As a result, increasing numbers of long-term empty homes fall into dereliction, raising renovation costs and making it more difficult to bring them back into use.

This document demonstrates what the problem is, how it affects England’s communities, what parliamentarians think, and how Government can act to make this waste of housing become part of the solution to our current housing crisis.