Thousands of homes in Nottingham have been sitting empty for more than six months amid the nation's housing crisis. Recently released data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHC) shows at least 4,559 homes liable for council tax in the city had been unoccupied for at least six months at the most recent count in October.
This means the number of homes gathering dust for at least half a year has increased from 4,148 in 2021, an increase of 9.9 per cent. In 2017, there was a much lower vacant housing stock, with 3621 properties counted as being empty.
The need for accessible homes in the city is massive, with more than 8,000 households currently waiting for a council home in Nottingham. Nottingham City Council is only able to provide between 1,400 to 1,600 properties a year, and said a further 6,000 households were annually presenting as homeless.
