THE PROPERTY FILTER TAKE
England has 303,185 homes empty for more than six months, worth an estimated £88.6bn (Mortgage Strategy, 11 September 2026).
That is 40.2% of England's vacant stock, with the largest clusters in London, the North West and the South East.
Before you treat an empty property as SA stock, consider checking its condition, its planning position and your billing authority's current empty homes council tax charge.
England has 303,185 long-term empty homes, and they are worth an estimated £88.6bn, according to research from House Buyer Bureau reported by Mortgage Strategy on 11 September 2026. Serviced accommodation (property let by the night rather than on a tenancy) runs on stock. This is a large pool of it sitting outside both the rental market and the booking market. It is also the kind of headline number that gets read as an opportunity before anyone checks what the stock is actually like.
Where England's long-term empty homes sit
House Buyer Bureau counted 754,264 vacant homes across England, of which 303,185 are classed as long-term vacant (Mortgage Strategy, 11 September 2026). That works out at 40.2% of the country's vacant housing stock. The research defines long-term vacant as a property liable for council tax, empty for more than six months, and not covered by a specified exemption.
London holds the largest single block, with 47,287 long-term vacant homes worth almost £25.8bn. The South East has 42,099 at an estimated £16.1bn, and the North West 42,606 at an estimated £9.4bn. Birmingham alone accounts for 7,060, at an estimated £1.64bn. Those values come from applying regional average house prices to the vacancy counts, so they estimate stock value rather than any price paid.
The pattern splits two ways for an operator. London carries the highest value per empty home, with the average London property valued at £544,814 (Mortgage Strategy, 11 September 2026). The North West carries volume at a much lower value, with more long-term vacant homes than the South East but well under two thirds of the value. Area screening of that kind is what our property deal sourcing software is built to do.
Can a long-term empty home work as serviced accommodation?
Sometimes. But the research says nothing about condition, and condition sets your nightly rate and your first bookable date. House Buyer Bureau managing director Chris Hodgkinson said that "not every empty home can simply be put back into use overnight" (Mortgage Strategy, 11 September 2026). He also said there is "no single reason why a property remains vacant."
So treat the headline number as a map, not a shopping list. A property empty for years may need a full refurbishment, which pushes back your first guest. It may sit inside an estate that moves slowly. You may wish to run the purchase under stressed borrowing costs first, and our free stress test calculator does that in a couple of minutes.
Rent-to-SA (renting a property from its owner on a long lease, then letting it out nightly yourself) is the other way into this stock. Some owners sitting on an empty property may prefer a steady monthly payment to a sale, although nothing in this research says how many would. Approaches to owners like that sit in the same territory as our deal sourcing guides.
What to check before you list an empty property
Start with whether SA is the right use for the building at all, rather than a standard let. That comparison runs through our property investment strategies guides. It is worth settling before you spend anything on furniture.
Then planning. Consider asking the local planning authority whether short-term letting at your intended level needs permission in that area, because councils take different positions.
Registration is the next check, and it is England-specific. The government's guidance on delivering a registration scheme for short-term lets in England was published on 19 February 2024 and has not been updated since. It reports that 61% of consultation respondents backed a mandatory scheme across all of England, and says work would begin at pace to establish it, delivered primarily online. That page describes a scheme in development rather than one you can sign up to today, and it is now more than two and a half years old. You may wish to confirm the current position with your own council.
Two practical items close it out. Insurance is worth a call: consider asking your broker what cover applies while the property sits empty between purchase and first guest. On council tax, whether a premium applies to a long-term empty home is set locally, and so is the rate. Consider checking your billing authority's current charge before you model holding costs.
Key takeaways
England has 303,185 long-term empty homes, worth an estimated £88.6bn (Mortgage Strategy, 11 September 2026).
Long-term vacant means empty for more than six months, liable for council tax and not covered by a specified exemption.
40.2% of England's 754,264 vacant homes fall into the long-term category.
London accounts for 47,287 of them, almost £25.8bn of stock, the largest regional share.
The values are modelled from regional average house prices, not from actual sale prices.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a long-term empty home in England?
Can I buy an empty home and run it as serviced accommodation?
Do I need to register a short-term let in England?
Where are most of England's long-term empty homes?
