5 ms·

I agree but if 100,000 homes became available tomorrow in London they’d sell in an instant. I don’t think any number will solve it - the problem is existing hom

I agree but if 100,000 homes became available tomorrow in London they’d sell in an instant. I don’t think any number will solve it - the problem is existing homes not being lived in and being used as income.

iso1210 5y ago
How many homes in London are empty? Numbers I see are in the region of 25,000, out of 3.6 million, under 1%.
- bmilleare 5y ago
  It would be more interesting to see those numbers in square footage and not straight counts. I would expect the majority of the 'empty' homes are the £10M+ ones in Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington etc.
  - iso1210 5y ago
    Offices and hotels far more empty square footage
barry-cotter 5y ago
You could fit 59 Manhattans in the London Green Belt. Manhattan has 1.6 million residents. The problem is not building.
dionidium 5y ago
There is no evidence that this is a significant issue affecting housing prices in high-demand metros. Lack of supply is a much more straightforward and verifiable explanation. The spooky-outside-investor meme is conspiratorial nonsense and it’s beneath this forum.
- carpedimebagjoe 5y ago
  Sorry, but you're spouting nonsense without knowing the facts. In the US alone, there are over 17 million vacant residential properties. Average un-occupancy rates for urban areas run 10%. That is more than plenty to house every homeless and very poor person. There ought to be massive taxes on urban vacation, vacant housing, and entirely airbnb properties to encourage utilization by those who require housing rather than being hoarded/exploited by those who use them for recreational/investment purposes.
  - dionidium 5y ago
    Unfortunately, like everybody involved in the housing space, I’ve of course heard this claim about millions of vacant homes many times. It’s a notoriously silly take. Most vacant homes covered by that statistic are either 1) uninhabitable shells in low-demand rust-belt metros; or 2) houses that are for sale or between tenants. A small percentage of them are second homes. And while you could of course raise taxes on those homes (a policy I’d probably support in some form), it’s unlikely that it’d have much of an impact on the overall problem.

iso1210 5y ago

How many homes in London are empty? Numbers I see are in the region of 25,000, out of 3.6 million, under 1%.

bmilleare 5y ago
It would be more interesting to see those numbers in square footage and not straight counts. I would expect the majority of the 'empty' homes are the £10M+ ones in Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington etc.
- iso1210 5y ago
  Offices and hotels far more empty square footage

barry-cotter 5y ago

You could fit 59 Manhattans in the London Green Belt. Manhattan has 1.6 million residents. The problem is not building.

dionidium 5y ago

There is no evidence that this is a significant issue affecting housing prices in high-demand metros. Lack of supply is a much more straightforward and verifiable explanation. The spooky-outside-investor meme is conspiratorial nonsense and it’s beneath this forum.

carpedimebagjoe 5y ago
Sorry, but you're spouting nonsense without knowing the facts. In the US alone, there are over 17 million vacant residential properties. Average un-occupancy rates for urban areas run 10%. That is more than plenty to house every homeless and very poor person. There ought to be massive taxes on urban vacation, vacant housing, and entirely airbnb properties to encourage utilization by those who require housing rather than being hoarded/exploited by those who use them for recreational/investment purposes.
- dionidium 5y ago
  Unfortunately, like everybody involved in the housing space, I’ve of course heard this claim about millions of vacant homes many times. It’s a notoriously silly take. Most vacant homes covered by that statistic are either 1) uninhabitable shells in low-demand rust-belt metros; or 2) houses that are for sale or between tenants. A small percentage of them are second homes. And while you could of course raise taxes on those homes (a policy I’d probably support in some form), it’s unlikely that it’d have much of an impact on the overall problem.