Carmarthenshire tops Welsh list of empty housing hotspots

As it stands, there are currently 288,539 empty houses in the UK and 25,581 in Wales, and 68% of Brits believe they should be used to help target the nation’s homelessness crisis; new research reveals.

• New research reveals the number of empty dwellings in the UK and Wales
• Carmarthenshire is home to the emptiest dwellings
• Seven in 10 Brits think empty dwellings should be used to tackle homelessness

The research, conducted by regulated property buyers GoodMove using data from Gov.UK, reveals how many empty houses there really are in the UK and Wales, as well as public perception on these empty dwellings.

And this interactive heat-style map showcases the areas across the UK with the emptiest houses.

Of the 288,539 empty dwellings in the UK, 25,581 are in Wales (9%). A huge 215,625 of them (75%) are in England while 47,333 are in Scotland (16%).

The top 10 areas with the most empty houses in Wales

1. Carmarthenshire (2,964)
2. Rhonda Cynon Taf (2,467)
3. Swansea (2,237)
4. Pembrokeshire (1,708)
5. Cardiff (1,671)
6. Neath Port Talbot (1,382)
7. Bridgend (1,231)
8. Conwy (1,195)
9. Gwynedd (1,140)
10. Newport (1,114)

The counties of Carmarthenshire and Rhonda Dynon Taf have the most empty dwellings in the country, with over 5,000 empty properties between them.

Empty homes tend to raise conversation about homelessness in the UK, which is an ever-prominent issue. Shelter estimates that one in every 200 people in the UK are homeless, and as of 31 December 2020, there were 95,370 British households in temporary accommodation.

And while many empty dwellings are unsafe or simply unfeasible to renovate into accommodation, nearly seven in 10 (68%) Brits surveyed felt that empty dwellings should be used to house homeless people, which is encouraging to see.

Commenting on this research, Nima Ghasri chartered surveyor and director at GoodMove says: “It’s really interesting to see the number of empty houses in the UK and in Wales specifically.

“Empty dwellings vary from an abandoned house to a completely derelict building and of course not all of them are safe to be lived in, or even economically viable to be renovated into liveable properties. But with nearly seven in 10 Brits believing these empty houses could be used to accommodate homeless people in the UK, it raises a very important and interesting issue.”