Empty homes:

Delivering for people and planet

Finders International are proud sponsors of National Empty Homes Week 2025.

Finders International offer an Empty Homes Service and during this year’s Empty Homes Week, they will be hosting a webinar on the ever-growing Empty Homes Crisis. To find out more details and how to sign up, take a look here.

Each year, National Empty Homes Week offers an opportunity to demonstrate the great work Councils and communities are doing to bring wasted empty homes back into use and to take action on empty homes which negatively impact neighbourhoods.

This year we celebrate the opportunities offered by Empty Homes to deliver for people and planet. Below, we set out what we mean by this. We welcome great examples of councils and communities working to bring empty homes back into use and how these case studies are helping local people live healthier, better lives, as well as highlighting the role that empty homes can play in helping us all to minimise climate breakdown.

If you would like to share case studies of bringing empty homes back into use, please email us at info@emptyhomes.com

DELIVERING FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET

Meeting housing targets

Bringing one empty home back into use counts as much towards housing targets as building a new one does.

In the financial year 2023-24, councils in England spent £2.29 billion on temporary accommodation. This was spent on generally cramped, unsuitable housing, placing increased stress on families, disrupting education and adversely impacting on health.

How much more effective would it be to invest just half of this £2.29b in bringing empty homes into use to prevent homelessness and provide good quality homes in the first place?

Building a low carbon economy

Retrofitting 100 empty homes costs substantially less in carbon emissions than building 100 new houses. If local authorities want to keep to their climate targets, it’s a no-brainer.

We already know that the government target of building 300,000 new homes a year could blast through the whole country’s carbon emission allowance. However, retrofitting empty homes back into use would use between 50 - 80% less in carbon emissions whilst also creating more energy efficient, greener housing. If local authorities are serious about sticking to carbon targets, whilst also needing to hit housing targets, empty homes offer an obvious solution. You can read more about Retrofitting empty homes here.

Improving health and wellbeing

3.17 million households in England are in fuel poverty. Retrofitting empty homes offers a way to provide safer, warmer homes to communities.

The government Fuel Poverty Statistics for England 2024 showed that 3.17 million households in England were in fuel poverty. When in fuel poverty, households struggle to pay their fuel bills, often attempting to manage down their usage by not heating their homes or cooking meals. The impacts of cold on health and well-being, including mental health, are well documented and contribute to public spending on health services. You can read more about retrofitting empty homes here, but essentially it offers opportunities to create cozy homes for future residents, as well as offering community-based demonstration spaces for locals to understand the impact retrofitting their own homes could have on their fuel bills.