Cardiff has a current deficit of around 88,000 homes, according to new study

New study reveals vacant houses and brownfield land could help reduce the housing deficit by up to 86%

• Bournemouth has the costliest number of vacant homes outside of London, at nearly £3 billion.
• Liverpool is currently experiencing the worst housing crisis in the UK with a deficit of nearly a quarter of a million homes.
• Reducing the number of Glasgow’s vacant homes could help ease the cities housing crisis by 86.4%.
• 73% of Coventry’s housing deficit could be relieved through the maximisation of brownfield potential

A recent study by CIA Landlord Insurance has looked at the UK housing crisis and the increasing number of empty homes, analysing the impact that inhabiting vacant homes could have. The brownfield land availability in cities has also been analysed to reveal which cities would benefit the most from further development. This is in response to the high demand in properties within the UK as well as house prices being exacerbated due to the number of vacant homes in the UK. 

Bournemouth has the costliest number of vacant homes outside of London

London has a total of 87,731 vacant homes, making it the top city in the UK for the prevalence of empty houses. With house prices averaging £1.49 million in the capital, the cost of vacant homes is approximately £130.8 billion. 

Bournemouth has the second costliest vacant homes in the UK at a combined £3 billion, calculated from the number of empty homes (7,213) and the comparative average house price (£414,624).

Top 10 UK cities with the highest combined cost of their vacant homes:

Rank	UK city	No. of vacant homes (2021)	Average house price (£) (2022)	Approximate cost of vacant homes (£)
1	London	87,731	1,490,332	130,748,291,250
2	Bournemouth	7,213	414,624	2,990,686,158
3	Manchester	8,024	279,475	2,242,508,523
4	Birmingham	6,975	302,117	2,107,263,146
5	Brighton & Hove	3,388	492,002	1,666,902,200
6	Bristol	3,735	422,842	1,579,313,488
7	Coventry	4,399	348,685	1,533,863,863
8	Leeds	4,857	290,905	1,412,926,216
9	Bradford	6,056	229,782	1,391,558,217
10	Reading	2,595	445,967	1,157,284,365

Liverpool is currently experiencing the worst housing crisis in the UK 

Liverpool is currently experiencing the worst housing crisis in the UK with a deficit of around 232,759 homes. The city currently has 233,867 registered homes, however, our study found that over 450,000 are needed in order to combat the housing crisis there – leaving the city with a deficit of around 50%. 

Leicester has the 2nd worst housing crisis in the UK, with a deficit of around 135,201 homes needed for the number of people looking to move. 

The top five cities in the UK with the highest the deficit of homes: 

Rank	City	Number of properties needed 2022	Deficit of houses
1	Liverpool	466,626	-232,759
2	Leicester	274,815	-135,201
3	Bristol	333,331	-129,770
4	Sheffield	370,099	-116,362
5	Reading	171,728	-100,423

Cities with a surplus of homes include London, Leeds and Bournemouth who each have around 100,000 or more houses available. 

Solving Glasgow’s vacant home issue could help ease their housing crisis by 86.4%

The research found that over 86% of Glasgow’s housing deficit would be reduced if the vacant homes became inhabited, making it the city with the most to gain from solving their vacant homes issue. 

Portsmouth could see its housing crisis decrease by over one fifth if vacant homes were sold to those wanting to actively live there. 

The five cities that would benefit most from the selling of their vacant homes:

Rank	City	% of deficit reduced by selling of vacant homes
1	Glasgow	86.38
2	Portsmouth	20.53
3	Coventry	8.97
4	Birmingham	8.43
5	Plymouth	8.03

Brownfield Potential: Coventry’s housing  demand could be reduced by 73%

Maximising brownfield housing potential in Coventry would have a profound impact on the city’s housing crisis reducing the deficit by nearly three quarters (73%).

Plymouth, Nottingham and Portsmouth all have the potential to ease their housing crisis by at least 30% if they were to take advantage of their brownfield housing potential. 

Top 5 cities with a housing deficit to benefit from brownfield maximisation:

City	Housing crisis currently (2022)	Number of properties that could be built of brownfield land	Housing crisis if brownfield potential was maximised	Housing crisis difference when brownfield potential maximised (%)
Coventry	-49,062	36,000	-13,062	73%
Plymouth	-19,730	7254	-12,476	37%
Nottingham	-31,726	10,116	-21,610	32%
Portsmouth	-13,611	4170	-9,441	31%
Birmingham	-82,728	23,000	-59,728	28%

To see the full extent of the research please visit CIA Landlord Insurance: https://www.cia-landlords.co.uk/news/vacant-homes-and-their-impact-on-the-housing-market-crisis/