FOI reference: FOI-2026-3385
You asked
I'm writing to request some information to be shared over email on the number of unoccupied homes in the UK. It would be great if you could share:
- The number of unoccupied homes in the UK in 2025
- The number of unoccupied homes in the UK in 2024
- The number of unoccupied homes in the UK in 2023
If possible, it would also be much appreciated if we could receive a regional breakdown of the above to determine which parts of the UK had the most unoccupied homes in 2025, 2024, and 2023.
We said
Thank you for your request.
As housing is a devolved matter, each devolved nation collects and publishes their own data on the number of unoccupied, vacant, empty or second homes. Because of policy, definitional, and data-collection differences, the data cannot be combined to produce a UK-wide figure, and should be analysed and reported on separately.
The relevant council tax or domestic rates data on empty homes from each separate devolved nation are available:
- England – Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants) (table 615 covers years to October 2025)
- Wales – Council Tax dwellings: April 2026 to March 2027
- Scotland – Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2024
- Northern Ireland – Quarterly Property Vacancy Rates by District Council and Sector
The most commonly used regions are the regions of England. Table 615 includes regional estimates (those starting with E12 codes).
The alternative approach is to use Census data; however these have limitations in comparability, and are only for a single point in time. More information can be found in our Comparing empty home statistics in England and Wales article.
The difference between vacant homes and second (holiday) homes is explained in our Number of vacant and second homes, England and Wales: Census 2021 bulletin.
The Office for National Statistics's Government Statistical Service Coherence team plan to produce a coherence article on empty homes statistics across the UK later this year, which will clearly explain where cross-country comparisons can and cannot be made.
If you would like to contact us in the future regarding this data, please email pop.info@ons.gov.uk.