In discussions about the number of properties that are available and as it were unused, the number of vacant dwellings is often cited. But there are different definitions of vacant. The one commonly used is that derived from the Council Tax Base (CTB) data released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHLUHC) in Table 615..
The alternative is that used in the census by ONS where it refers to ‘vacant dwellings’, a subset of the unoccupied dwellings dataset.
What does analysis of the data tell us?
The 2021 DHLUC figure for England is 653,025. This compares to a total of 1,352,130 vacant dwellings in the census, twice as high. This is because the latter includes properties which are used as holiday lets, second homes not recorded as such on the CTB or otherwise empty. Some properties may be in the process of being sold or rented out.
[* CTB for 2021 gives a lower number than that on table 615].
General comments
The table below sets out the Local authorities with the highest share of properties which are not deemed to be vacant 615 properties.
Area | Vacant 615 | Vacant 615 | Of tot dwell | Of cen vacant | Est other | Census vacant |
No | % | % | No | % | No | |
Wandsworth | 977 | 0.6 | 7.9 | 11333 | 92.1 | 12310 |
Westminster | 2449 | 1.9 | 8.2 | 27326 | 91.8 | 29775 |
Hammersmithand Fulham | 1010 | 1.1 | 9.7 | 9385 | 90.3 | 10395 |
East Lindsey | 2305 | 2.6 | 13.5 | 14805 | 86.5 | 17110 |
City of London | 275 | 3.8 | 14.4 | 1640 | 85.6 | 1915 |
Isles of Scilly | 43 | 3.3 | 16.5 | 217 | 83.5 | 260 |
South Hams | 752 | 1.6 | 17.1 | 3648 | 82.9 | 4400 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 3019 | 3.4 | 17.6 | 14136 | 82.4 | 17155 |
Hackney | 2053 | 1.8 | 20.4 | 8012 | 79.6 | 10065 |
Slough | 748 | 1.3 | 20.6 | 2877 | 79.4 | 3625 |
Comments