Hartlepool named among top 10 UK areas with highest number of vacant homes

Empty homes are becoming an increasingly visible issue in towns and cities across the UK.

- By Enis Shala Contributor

Whether they're left unoccupied due to inheritance delays, investment speculation, or disrepair, these properties can become a blight on neighbourhoods and a wasted resource amid the housing crisis.

A new study, conducted by real estate experts at Five Star Cash Offer, who specialise in buying properties directly from homeowners looking to sell quickly, analysed housing data from 200 areas across the UK.

They used government figures to determine which areas had the highest share of vacant homes in relation to the total housing stock.

To get the full picture, the researchers looked at the number of empty residential properties in each area and compared this to the total number of homes.