# England has more than 200,000 empty homes. How to revive them? (The Guardian, 25 Sept 2018) * **England has more than 200,000 empty homes. How to revive them?** * By Mattha Busby. Published in the Guardian on 25 September 2018 * * **Summary**: * "Ask most people about England’s epidemic of empty homes and they are likely to think of lavish vacant mansions in London owned by absent foreign billionaires. * In fact, [the majority of empty properties are in post-industrial](https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2018/feb/14/empty-homes-north-london-luxury-investment) areas, where poverty rates are high and house prices languish well below their pre-crash levels. Such a place is Stockton-on-Tees, near Middlesbrough, where Martyn Jones lives. * Two years ago Jones, 23, was homeless and relying on friends to let him sleep on their couches while he struggled to find work. Today, he is painting a wall in a gutted home on a quiet street, part of a group tasked with refurbishing some of the area’s many vacant, derelict homes. * Last week, [Theresa May pledged an extra £2bn for housing associations](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/18/housing-associations-to-get-2bn-investment-over-next-ten-years) to fund large-scale developments. **But with new house building not providing enough affordable homes for more than 1 million people on waiting lists in England, social enterprises and councils are trying to bring empty homes, which number well over** [**200,000 and are worth almost £50bn**](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/01/over-11000-homes-have-stood-empty-for-at-least-10-years-data-shows)**, back into occupancy."** * **Keywords**: UK, taxes, vacant property, empty dwelling, local councils, big landlords --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://housing-base.journalismarena.eu/empty-homes/media-reports/england-has-more-than-200-000-empty-homes.-how-to-revive-them-the-guardian-25-sept-2018.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.