Nobody's home: Nearly 2,000 homes in Bucks sitting empty for more than six months

Nearly 2,000 homes in Bucks have been sitting empty for more than six months, amid a housing crisis where hundreds of households in the county are in temporary accommodation.

Campaign group Action on Empty Homes called the latest figures "shocking", after they revealed long-term empties across the country have risen to the highest level in a decade outside of the coronavirus pandemic.

Data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows at least 1,986 homes liable for council tax in Bucks had been unoccupied for at least six months at the most recent count in October.

It meant the number of homes gathering dust for at least half a year has increased by four per cent from 1,914 in 2021.

The properties deemed long-term empty were among a total of 5,581 vacant homes counted in Bucks in October.

Owners of properties which have lain empty for two years or more can be charged an extra 100 per cent council tax on top of their bill – rising to as much as 300 per cent if the home has been empty for a decade or longer.

Across England, there were 676,500 vacant properties at the latest count. Some 248,600 (37 per cent) of these had been lying empty for six months or more – the highest number since 2012 (excluding 2020, when the pandemic caused a temporary shutdown in the housing market).

Chris Bailey, national campaign manager for Action on Empty Homes, said: "After more than a decade of intense housing crisis, it is shocking to see long-term empty homes in England rise to 250,000 – another 11,000 more wasted empties, while nearly 100,000 families are trapped in temporary accommodation, costing the nation over £1.5 billion pounds a year.

"A new national empty homes programme is long overdue – the government needs to step up to the plate and offer funding and incentives to get these homes back into use."

Separate DLUHC figures show 94,870 households were in temporary accommodation at the end of June – including 323 in Bucks.

And between April and June, ​500 Bucks households were entitled to support after becoming homeless or being put at risk of homelessness.