Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has set a target in this Parliamentary Term for the reduction in number of long term empty properties as a result of the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018.

Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Ministry’s live table 615 which is available at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes and those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures.

The table can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants.

Rates of council tax charged on empty homes are a matter for individual local authorities, who will take into account local circumstances in reaching their decision. In 2018, 299 out of 326 authorities reported that they were charging a premium on some of their empty dwellings, up from 291 in 2017.

The number of long-term vacant dwellings across England remains lower than when records began.