This follows research from the House Buyer Bureau which found that 676,000 homes in England were unoccupied, accounting for 2.7 per cent of homes worth £212bn. 

Its analysis found that the worst affected region was the North East where 3.3 per cent of homes were empty, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber where three per cent of properties were unoccupied. 

The Empty Homes Programme ran from 2012 to 2015 and funding was issued to bring empty homes back into use as affordable housing. 

Propertymark calls on UK Government to reintroduce Empty Homes Programme 

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said: “Propertymark has long called for the UK government to build more social houses, and with a general election looming round the corner, this is their opportunity to show that they are serious about tackling the housing crisis.  

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“We call on the UK government to commit to reintroducing the Empty Homes Programme so that England’s empty housing stock can be utilised more effectively.”