England · report

Empty homes in England

5.4% of the 24,927,588 homes counted in the 2021 census had nobody usually living in them.

Empty, 2021 census: 5.4%
Empty homes: 1,352,135

Where homes stand empty in England

Share of homes standing empty at the 2021 census, emptiest first.

Area	Empty
City of London	26.2%
Westminster	23.1%
Isles of Scilly	20.0%
East Lindsey	19.4%
Kensington and Chelsea	19.2%
Camden	13.4%
Hammersmith and Fulham	11.2%
Blackpool	10.5%
Westmorland and Furness	9.5%
South Hams	9.5%
Islington	9.2%
North Norfolk	8.9%
Hackney	8.7%
Liverpool	8.6%
North Devon	8.5%
Isle of Wight	8.3%
Cornwall	8.3%
Wandsworth	8.2%
Tower Hamlets	8.1%
Cotswold	8.0%
Thanet	7.8%
Lambeth	7.8%
Torridge	7.7%
Hastings	7.5%
Hartlepool	7.5%
Newham	7.4%
Lancaster	7.4%
Southwark	7.3%
Derbyshire Dales	7.3%
Torbay	7.3%
Haringey	7.3%
Brent	7.2%
Rother	7.1%
Salford	7.0%
Pendle	7.0%
Nottingham	7.0%
Cumberland	6.9%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	6.9%
Manchester	6.9%
North Yorkshire	6.9%
Lewisham	6.8%
Tendring	6.8%
Cambridge	6.7%
Folkestone and Hythe	6.7%
Eastbourne	6.7%
Brighton and Hove	6.6%
Fylde	6.5%
Chichester	6.5%
Wolverhampton	6.5%
Slough	6.5%
Coventry	6.5%
Northumberland	6.4%
Hyndburn	6.4%
Swale	6.3%
Dorset	6.2%
Cheltenham	6.2%
Oxford	6.2%
Windsor and Maidenhead	6.2%
Darlington	6.1%
Stoke-on-Trent	6.0%
Ealing	6.0%
Preston	6.0%
East Devon	6.0%
Sunderland	6.0%
East Suffolk	5.9%
Kingston upon Hull	5.9%
East Riding of Yorkshire	5.9%
Dover	5.9%
Croydon	5.9%
Rochdale	5.9%
Runnymede	5.8%
Middlesbrough	5.8%
Lincoln	5.8%
Calderdale	5.7%
Teignbridge	5.7%
Reading	5.7%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	5.6%
Maidstone	5.6%
Greenwich	5.6%
Bolton	5.6%
Wyre	5.6%
Redcar and Cleveland	5.6%
Bristol	5.5%
New Forest	5.5%
Derby	5.5%
Herefordshire	5.5%
Forest of Dean	5.5%
Blackburn with Darwen	5.5%
Sheffield	5.5%
Ribble Valley	5.5%
Southend-on-Sea	5.4%
Stratford-on-Avon	5.4%
Kirklees	5.4%
Brentwood	5.4%
Enfield	5.4%
Harrow	5.4%
Gravesham	5.3%
Plymouth	5.3%
Warwick	5.3%
West Lancashire	5.3%
York	5.3%
North East Lincolnshire	5.3%
Richmond upon Thames	5.3%
Rossendale	5.3%
Sefton	5.3%
Bath and North East Somerset	5.3%
Elmbridge	5.3%
Merton	5.3%
South Tyneside	5.3%
Leicester	5.3%
West Oxfordshire	5.3%
Great Yarmouth	5.2%
Guildford	5.2%
Bassetlaw	5.2%
West Devon	5.2%
Bolsover	5.2%
Shropshire	5.2%
Hillingdon	5.2%
Gateshead	5.1%
Tunbridge Wells	5.1%
County Durham	5.1%
Stockton-on-Tees	5.1%
Canterbury	5.1%
Portsmouth	5.1%
Southampton	5.1%
Wirral	5.1%
Ashford	5.1%
Exeter	5.1%
Staffordshire Moorlands	5.1%
West Lindsey	5.0%
Knowsley	5.0%
Birmingham	5.0%
Watford	5.0%
High Peak	5.0%
Medway	5.0%
Solihull	5.0%
Somerset	5.0%
Lewes	4.9%
Malvern Hills	4.9%
Wyre Forest	4.9%
Doncaster	4.9%
Newcastle-under-Lyme	4.9%
Mansfield	4.9%
Burnley	4.9%
Havering	4.9%
Epping Forest	4.9%
Rutland	4.8%
North Somerset	4.8%
Barnet	4.8%
Barnsley	4.8%
Wakefield	4.8%
Hounslow	4.8%
Newcastle upon Tyne	4.8%
North Warwickshire	4.8%
Sevenoaks	4.8%
Hertsmere	4.8%
Waltham Forest	4.8%
Wealden	4.7%
Kingston upon Thames	4.7%
Newark and Sherwood	4.7%
St Albans	4.7%
Oldham	4.7%
South Derbyshire	4.7%
Boston	4.7%
Uttlesford	4.7%
Cheshire East	4.6%
St. Helens	4.6%
Woking	4.6%
Vale of White Horse	4.6%
Bradford	4.6%
Winchester	4.6%
Welwyn Hatfield	4.6%
Cherwell	4.6%
Fenland	4.6%
Gloucester	4.6%
Arun	4.5%
Tandridge	4.5%
Wiltshire	4.5%
Norwich	4.5%
Rotherham	4.5%
Bury	4.5%
Dartford	4.5%
Thurrock	4.4%
Mid Devon	4.4%
Waverley	4.3%
Broxtowe	4.3%
Leeds	4.3%
Stroud	4.3%
Mole Valley	4.3%
Bromley	4.3%
Buckinghamshire	4.3%
Gosport	4.3%
South Oxfordshire	4.3%
Tameside	4.2%
Cheshire West and Chester	4.2%
Trafford	4.2%
East Staffordshire	4.2%
Spelthorne	4.2%
Walsall	4.2%
Chorley	4.1%
North Gloucestershire	4.1%
Melton	4.1%
South Kesteven	4.1%
Bedford	4.1%
Reigate and Banstead	4.1%
Amber Valley	4.1%
Bracknell Forest	4.1%
Rugby	4.1%
Erewash	4.1%
Rushmoor	4.1%
Breckland	4.1%
Worcester	4.0%
Charnwood	4.0%
East Cambridgeshire	4.0%
Worthing	4.0%
Halton	4.0%
Mid Sussex	4.0%
Stafford	4.0%
Test Valley	4.0%
Bexley	4.0%
North Lincolnshire	4.0%
Oadby and Wigston	4.0%
Surrey Heath	3.9%
East Hertfordshire	3.9%
Swindon	3.9%
South Holland	3.9%
Barking and Dagenham	3.9%
Maldon	3.9%
Rushcliffe	3.9%
Three Rivers	3.9%
Havant	3.9%
Colchester	3.9%
West Northamptonshire	3.9%
Wigan	3.9%
West Berkshire	3.8%
Chelmsford	3.8%
Epsom and Ewell	3.8%
North Northamptonshire	3.8%
South Ribble	3.8%
Wychavon	3.8%
Chesterfield	3.8%
Dacorum	3.8%
Ashfield	3.8%
Warrington	3.8%
Peterborough	3.7%
North Tyneside	3.7%
Luton	3.7%
South Staffordshire	3.7%
Broxbourne	3.6%
Harlow	3.6%
Basildon	3.6%
Horsham	3.6%
Mid Suffolk	3.6%
Redbridge	3.6%
Fareham	3.5%
North West Leicestershire	3.5%
South Norfolk	3.5%
Huntingdonshire	3.5%
Babergh	3.5%
Redditch	3.5%
Milton Keynes	3.5%
Central Bedfordshire	3.5%
Sutton	3.5%
Gedling	3.5%
South Gloucestershire	3.4%
Stockport	3.4%
Telford and Wrekin	3.4%
Harborough	3.4%
Castle Point	3.4%
South Cambridgeshire	3.4%
East Hampshire	3.4%
Nuneaton and Bedworth	3.4%
Sandwell	3.3%
West Suffolk	3.3%
Adur	3.3%
North Hertfordshire	3.3%
Tonbridge and Malling	3.3%
Bromsgrove	3.3%
Hart	3.3%
Stevenage	3.2%
North Kesteven	3.2%
Wokingham	3.2%
Broadland	3.1%
Ipswich	3.1%
Cannock Chase	3.0%
Hinckley and Bosworth	3.0%
Basingstoke and Deane	2.9%
Eastleigh	2.9%
Rochford	2.9%
Lichfield	2.9%
Tamworth	2.9%
Braintree	2.6%
North East Derbyshire	2.6%
Crawley	2.5%
Blaby	2.4%
Dudley	2.3%

In England and Wales the census counts a dwelling as vacant when nobody usually lives in it and it is not a second home, checked against council tax and other records. Northern Ireland counts household spaces with no usual residents, second homes included, so its share reads higher. Scotland's 2022 census did not count empty homes. The next census is in 2031.

Other reports for England

Next 12 months

Sale prices have an 80% chance of landing between £281,982 and £314,298 by August 2027.

Expected, August 2027: £298,140
Chance of a rise: 64%

Affordability

At the average sale price, a home costs £293,525. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is £1,354 a month. The UK sets no cap on the payment; no more than 15% of new mortgages may lend over 4.5 times income.

Payment, two incomes: 21%
Payment, one income: 41%

Buy or rent

Owning the average home costs less each month than renting it. Owning counts interest, running costs and the return the deposit could earn, at the average sale price; rent is the average of all private tenancies. Repaying the loan is saving, so it is left out.

Rent per month: £1,466
Owning per month: £1,382

New homes

9.3% fewer homes were started in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.

Started, 12 months: 135,780
Per 1,000 residents: 2.3

Foreign buyers

Figures for United Kingdom: England has no reliable figures of its own.

Buyers living abroad bought 1.8% of the homes sold here in the four quarters to Q1 2025.

Bought by buyers abroad, 12 months: 1.8%

Past cycles

Sale prices have fallen by 3% or more 7 times since 1968. The deepest began in September 2007.

Deepest fall: −18.2%
Recovery from the low: 62 months

People and new homes

In 2025 the population grew by 228,010 while 139,960 homes were finished: 1.6 new residents for every new home.

New residents per new home, 2025: 1.6
Population change, 2025: +228,010

Renovation

In 2025, 10% of the homes added came from existing buildings rather than new ones.

Homes from existing buildings, 2025: 10%