Half a million homes could be created from empty non-residential buildings

Half a million homes could be created from empty non-residential buildings in the UK, according to a new LSE report.

This could be achieved in a more cost effective way than creating new-build housing, and with a lower environmental impact. This would help tackle housing affordability and the climate crisis.

Replacing Empty Spaces with Productive, Green Places, was commissioned by Habitat for Humanity GB (HFHGB), the international charity fighting global poverty and homelessness, and funded by M&G plc, the international savings and investment business.

While thousands of commercial buildings - vacant offices, retail units and leisure spaces - sit empty across the UK, there are an estimated 131,000 households in temporary accommodation.

The report, from LSE's Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, proposes the creation of a government taskforce to coordinate national action, as well as a requirement for local authorities to publish registers of empty commercial units and assess their suitability for conversion. The key recommendations are:

Attracting investment that supports communities

- Utilising existing buildings helps regenerate town centres and reduces travel costs.

- The government should remove barriers to private and public investment in conversion projects; new build housing doesn’t incur VAT, whereas most conversions are charged a 20% VAT rate – this should be equalised, and councils should be able to access funding from existing schemes to support building regeneration.

Reducing the environmental impact of home building

- Converting empty buildings, rather than building from scratch, is significantly better for the environment, by reducing carbon production, landfill waste and greenfield development.

- The government should update existing UK net-zero building standards to support commercial-to-residential conversion and launch a national ‘decision support toolkit’ for local authorities and developers to encourage a renewal-first mindset that helps achieve climate targets.

Job creation and upskilling

- A significant scale up in conversions will require a larger workforce trained in retrofit and conversion skills.

- The report calls for new guidance and standards for building reuse and conversion to be set at a national level, as well as local authority initiatives to recruit new construction roles and expanded skills training focused on renewal.

Henrietta Blackmore, National Director of HFHGB, said: “Walk around any town centre and you’ll see empty buildings that are overlooked. Many of these could be reused as great homes, reducing the carbon impact of the building industry and supporting the Government’s pledge to reduce housing costs for families.

“We know that empty commercial buildings are often overlooked because they seem more complex than open spaces. Greater support and clarity from the Government could see many more homes unlocked, in the places we need them most.

“LSE’s research makes the environmental case clear, but this is also about creating homes that are affordable to run, well located for public transport and revitalizing for high streets.”

Alex Greaves, Global Head of Living at M&G plc, said: “There is huge, untapped potential in empty buildings in the UK. By enabling local authorities to partner effectively with the private sector to bring empty commercial buildings back into use, the government can accelerate the delivery of high quality homes, cut carbon emissions, and breathe new life into urban communities. As a major investor in the UK, we want to see better incentives and infrastructure for property reuse and conversion to help realise this potential at scale.”