Houses for sale Sheffield: Thousands of Sheffield homes sitting empty for more than six months

At least 2,702 properties liable for council tax in the Steel City have reportedly been unoccupied for at least six months as of the most recent count in October. Housing crisis group Action on Empty Homes called the latest figures "shocking", after they revealed long-term empties across the country have risen to the highest level in a decade outside of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Sheffield, however, the number of homes gathering dust for at least half a year has decreased by five per cent from the 2,838 counted in 2021. The properties deemed long-term empty were among a total of 7,116 vacant homes counted in Sheffield in October. RightMove reports the average price of a house in the Steel City in the past 12 months was £223,235, the vast majority of which were semi-detatched.

Owners of properties which have lain empty for two years or more can be charged an extra 100 per cent council tax on top of their bill – rising to as much as 300 per cent if the home has been empty for a decade or longer. Across England, there were 248,000 long-term vacant properties at the latest count.

Chris Bailey, national campaign manager for Action on Empty Homes, said: "After more than a decade of intense housing crisis it is shocking to see long-term empty homes in England rise to 250,000 – another 11,000 more wasted empties, while nearly 100,000 families are trapped in temporary accommodation, costing the nation over £1.5 billion pounds a year.

"A new national empty homes programme is long overdue – the Government needs to step up to the plate and offer funding and incentives to get these homes back into use."

He added that long-term empty homes are a "huge missed opportunity" to create new jobs through low-carbon retrofitting.

Between April and June, 892 Sheffield households were entitled to support after becoming homeless or being put at risk of homelessness, putting them among 69,180 across England.

A DLUHC spokesperson said the Government is "taking action to get empty homes back into use" and added that the number of long-term empty homes is lower than when records began in 2004.

They said: "The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill gives councils power to apply the 100% council tax premium on properties left empty after a year, rather than the current two years. This will provide local leaders with additional flexibility to help address the impacts of empty homes.”

It comes after housing charity Shelter claimed there were 215 claims to repossess properties in Sheffield between July and September this year.

RightMove claims the majority of sales in Sheffield during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £212,727. Terraced properties sold for an average of £173,692, with detached properties fetching £398,930.

Overall, sold prices in Sheffield over the last year were similar to the previous year and 16% up on the 2019 peak of £192,995.