Yes I was thinking that.

Is that not inflationary in itself though?

Catch22.

I agree, but the government and private business don't seem inclined to do anything with them. Apparently there are more empty houses than people who need a house. But in the UK, nothing is ever as simple as that. Many are uninhabitable and no-one seems inclined to do them up, or the owner won't sell, holding on for when prices go up again.

I still say there is a desperate shortage of affordable (liveable) housing. Just needs the government to give an arse-kicking to whatever sector needs it.

There was an article the other day about the possibility of freeing up housing used by the elderly by moving them into renovated closed down shops on the high street.

Can't find it now. I googled it but all I got was articles on mobility scooters. No doubt I'll receive discount granny vouchers in my e-mail tomorrow.

That's disgusting. Why would the elderly ever want to move from their own homes to go and live in a former closed down shop. They have rights. Talk about being cast aside!

It needs more affordable rental property imo. The British obsession with the "housing ladder" is in many ways counter productive.

Hearing this.....gotta rethink staying in Dallas..........is that the state of the UK??? Shameful....even considering it......

Yes there are initiatives all over the country working to get these houses renovated and used. There was one the other day where a buyer paid £1 for the house and then took out a small fixed interest loan to renovate it. The scheme appeared to be extrememly popular.

Agreed. Home 'ownership' is a myth. Unless an outright purchase, the bank owns it.
It is no comfort to me that I pay mortgage and the kids get the house!!

I was once asked (by an MP!) if I was in a position to purchase again-would I? I said no; I'd rent luxury!
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There are apparently Empty Home Officers with each Council whose job it is to encourage owners of derelict houses to sell/renovate/-or they compulsorily purchase. Good idea.

George Clark, who presents a home improvement programme on TV, has got involved, there is even a 'Property Scandal' page set up on Twitter dor people to post details of these, it has caused some to be improved.

I think he has even been co-opted onto some government committee as a result of his (very interesting) programme.

I smile when I fill in a home insurance form and it asks if you "own" or "rent" - there's no option for "neither - live in a house owned by the bank".

Absolutely, Totally and completely agree with your last sentence.

Certainly there is a enormous shortage of houses that people can afford to buy (absolutely not the same as affordable, which is the latest euphemism for social - as opposed to "executive", which the building trade now uses as a euphemism for "not-social").
But unoccupied homes hardly cover a years shortfall. Even if you count houses that are empty because the owners are on temporary contracts, overseas or in the UK, the total of empty homes is about 500,000. The most extreme number - which includes homes empty for any reason - was about 700K a couple of years ago and I believe below that now.
What most of us would class as empty, i.e. uninhabited with no contract of occupation of any kind, the total is about 250,000 across the entirety of the UK, predominantly in the North, Wales and Scotland.
Council House waiting lists alone are close to FIVE million. And that is not actually the tenure of choice that applicants are looking for but one of necessity.
Britain needs to build 350,000 plus houses a year every year for ten years to bring the market back into balance. And that is assuming the population growth we have seen over the last dozen years halves. Which given the rapid improvement in Britains finances seems debatable.

What is needed is more than a kick. It is to recognise how utterly the UK fails and has failed its citizens as regards housing. Often because of a smug I'm alright Jack attitude. Councils who turn down 90 percent of planning applications, Government departments who block large scale development, neighbours who oppose any sort of building near them. Certainly a stout kick needs to be administered, but whose well padded posterior comes first?

What many seem to ignore is that the property price racket in the UK (of which I am a happy beneficiary) has a downside - large scale quasi homelessness (by which I mean people who aren't legally homeless but are sleeping on floors, in converted illegal garages, in shed and tents), increasing levels of actual homelessness and house prices so ridiculous in large parts of the country that our children will never be able to afford to buy a house. Or even rent one!

Actually, I believe even if you pay cash, you still don't own it.

If you die intestate and without identifiable heirs, your house and land default to the ultimate beneficial owner - the Crown! (Unless you are unfortunate enough to live in Cornwall, in which case that ridiculous little popinjay gets it).

Owning my house outright whilst I still have a pulse would be my priority..

http://www.energy.eu/

Energy prices have become a bit of a political football, but it is perhaps worth noting that as a percentage of household income, domestic energy prices in the UK are amongst the lowest in Europe. (Looking at the charts, it seems to suggest that domestic consumers in the rest of the EU subsidise industry - which seems a bit odd).

Car fuel - including diesel -is amongst the highest however. The amount taken in tax is quite illuminating.