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Why are we building homes when so many are standing empty?

BBC
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75% Informative

There are just short of 700,000 empty and unfurnished homes in England .

Of those, 261,471 are classed as long-term empty’ meaning no-one has lived there for six months .

If all empty homes were brought back into use, the housing crisis would be solved at a stroke.

But it's not as simple as that - bringing derelict and abandoned properties back to life can be a long and complex process.

Even finding out who owns properties that have been standing empty for years , or in some cases decades , is a challenge.

Shelter produced a 10 -city plan to rapidly convert 10,500 empty homes in three years .

Issue was rarely mentioned during the general election campaign, with only the Green Party putting it in their manifesto.

So far, there are few signs the Labour government regards it a priority.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says it is committed to building 1.5 million homes.