20
Dec
Number of homes left empty has fallen, survey reveals
Estate
agents have been shown to have done a good job over the last
year at filling properties quickly, as the number of long-term
empty houses has dropped during this period.
The Halifax Empty Homes survey has found that in April 2010, there
were 295,519 properties that had been vacant in England for more
than six months.
This is a drop of 20,537 from April 2009's figures of
316,056.
Housing economist at the financial services provider Suren Thiru
said that the decline of six per cent in the number of long-term
empty properties over the 12-month period is "encouraging".
He stated that this has "[reversed] the increases recorded over the
preceding two years", with Halifax reporting that the drop is the
first fall since 2007.
The survey revealed that 61 per cent of the vacant properties are
in the north of England and the problem remains greater in areas
where earnings are lower and unemployment is higher.
This is despite Halifax revealing in its House Price Index for
November 2010 that property prices fell by 0.1 per cent over the
month. 