Action on Empty Homes (UK, 1992-present)
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Action on Empty Homes is a campaigning group established in 1992 in England.
It publishes detailed data and reports on empty homes in England.
Their latest data, compiled from November 2019 government figures, states three are 225,785 long-term empty homes in England.
Definition of empty home in this project:
Long-term empty homes: unused for more than six month, as defined by UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Summary from their own site:
Action on Empty Homes campaigns for empty homes to be brought into use for people in housing need.
Their stated aims are:
Raise awareness of the waste of long-term empty homes.
Campaign for changes to national policy.
Support local communities in transforming their neighbourhoods.
Provide advice for those seeking to bring empty homes back into use.
Research and develop ideas for bringing long-term empty homes back into use for those in housing need.
There are too many homes lying empty: Latest Government data shows that over 216,000 homes in England have been empty for over six months. In all, over 600,000 homes are currently vacant.
Leaving homes empty is a waste: We believe that we cannot afford to waste such properties. England needs over 300,000 additional homes each year.
Bringing empty homes into use helps neighbourhoods: There are neighbourhoods with clusters of empty homes. Tackling empty homes in these areas should be part of wider neighbourhood initiatives that start from the perspective of the issues people face there.
It makes environmental sense: Creating homes from empty properties saves substantial amounts of material compared to building new homes, minimises the amount of land used for development and avoids wasting embedded carbon; helping to combat climate change.
Keywords: UK, England, unused, vacant, dwelling, data