Minister Hails '21,000 Drop In Long-Term Empty Homes'

Communities minister Andrew Stunell has hailed the biggest annual fall in the number of long-term empty homes for seven years. Latest figures show that over the past year the numbers of long-term empty homes - those vacant for six months or more - has fallen by over 21,000 – the biggest year-on-year drop since 2004. There are now 279,000 long-term empty homes across England. When the figures were first collated in 2004, that figure stood at 319,000. The total number of vacant dwellings in the country now stands at 720,000 down from 737,000 a year ago. Read more on the CLG website.