Southwark has highest number of empty homes in capital, new figures show

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

The rising number of empty homes in London has been dubbed a “scandal”, with the figure now at its highest since 2010.

The latest data shows that some 34,327 properties in the capital were “long-term vacant”, meaning that they had not been lived in for more than six months and were “substantially unfurnished”, as of March 31, 2022.

They include both privately-owned homes and those under council and housing association ownership.

The highest number was found in the borough of Southwark, with 2,422 empty homes – followed by Newham with 1,944 and Barnet with 1,891.

The statistics sparked criticism from opponents of Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said they were damning in the context of the housing crisis.

Although the Mayor has few direct powers to reduce the number of empty properties, he can work to support councils to purchase vacant homes in their areas – as well as lobbying the government on a London-wide basis to provide funding and powers to tackle the issue.

Green AM Siân Berry called the situation a “scandal”, saying that the Government could alleviate the issue by providing the Mayor with more funding to expand his Right-to-buy-Back scheme.

A spokeswoman for Mr Khan responded: “The Mayor has achieved record-breaking delivery of genuinely affordable homes for Londoners, including higher levels of council homebuilding than at any point since the 1970s.

“[The] statistics show that the number of long-term empty homes is rising across the country, while the rate of empty homes is lower in London than the rest of England. This is a national issue which demands a national response from Government.

“Decisions taken by Ministers to date have taken us backwards, by dramatically weakening councils’ ability to use Empty Dwelling Management Orders to crack down on empty homes.

“Sadiq is doing what he can with the limited powers he has, including allowing councils to buy up empty homes through his Right to Buy-back scheme.

“However, this issue needs Government to act, and the Mayor has been clear he wants to see Empty Dwelling Management Orders toughened up, as well as additional tough measures put in place such as raising the amount overseas owners must pay for leaving their home empty.”

A spokesman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “Councils have a raft of powers to bring empty properties back into use and we are clear they should be using them to deliver new homes for communities.

“We have delivered more than 2.2 million homes since 2010 and reduced the number of long-term empty homes by more than 50,000 over the same period.”

Southwark council has been contacted for comment.

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