Twice as many empty homes in London as homeless - Teather

11.29.45am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 10th Feb 2005

Sarah Teather, MP for Brent East and Liberal Democrat London spokeswoman, today revealed that there are 100,000 empty properties throughout London while 50,000 households are in temporary accommodation.

Sarah Teather and Edward Davey are calling on the Government to solve the housing crisis

The figures, revealed in Parliamentary answers to Miss Teather, show that the number of empty properties in the capital has gone down by barely 1% in the last two years, despite the number of people in temporary accommodation doubling since 1999.

Commenting on this finding, Sarah Teather MP said:

"When so many people in London are pushed out of the housing market because of skyrocketing prices, to have 100,000 properties sitting empty is nothing short of disgraceful.

"That is why the Liberal Democrats campaigned to have 'Empty Property Management Orders', which now allow councils to encourage property owners to bring homes back into use. As a last resort they also allow councils to refurbish and re-let empty properties themselves.

"Labour has really let Londoners down with their shameful lack of new housing."

Notes

1. Answers to parliamentary questions asked by Sarah Teather revealed that the number of empty dwellings in London is as follows:

1997: 121,298

1998: 111,952

1999: 112,665

2000: 105,016

2001: 105,181

2002: 101,017

2003: 100,648

2004: 99,892

2. The number of households in temporary accommodation in London has risen from almost thirty thousand households in 1997 to just over fifty thousand households in 2002 (source: National Statistical Office