Government stats: Burnley has second-highest proportion of empty homes in England

Using statistics from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Coulters has shown that of the 41,080 dwellings in Burnley, 2,089 are empty, meaning that 5.09% of the properties in the town are currently not being lived in. That percentage is the second-highest in England after Blackpool, where 5.47% of homes are empty.

Despite experts claiming that there are 320,000 people who are currently homeless in the United Kingdom and despite demand for new housing being so high, England alone has an estimated 640,000 empty homes, meaning that 2.65% of all houses in the country are completely vacant.

Of the top-10 places with the highest proportion of empty properties, seven are in the North West, with Barrow-in-Furness, Liverpool, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, and Fylde joining Blackpool and Burnley on the list.