Why are there so many empty homes in the UK?
There are more than 600,000 empty homes in the UK, according to government figures, with more than 200,000 left unoccupied for more than six months.
And filling them could go quite some way towards solving the UK's housing problems, says campaigning charity Empty Homes.
"In the face of a housing shortage, homes that languish empty are an intolerable waste. Creating new homes from empty properties should go alongside building new homes to meet the aspirations of those in search of decent housing at a price they can afford," says chief executive Helen Williams.
"Many of the properties that are stuck empty are in private ownership and could be leased or bought by local authorities and housing charities and refurbished as affordable housing."
But why are all these houses empty in the first place?
One big phenomenon of recent years has been the rise of the 'buy to leave' investor. With house prices rocketing, wealthy buyers can see a handsome profit on their property, without all the hassle of putting tenants in.
Last year, for example, it emerged that ten houses in The Bishop's Avenue in North London - Britain's second most expensive street - were lying empty: a third of the entire street. Most of these were owned by investors.
In other cases, houses, streets, even entire estates are empty simply because nobody wants to live there. This is particularly the case in the north and in seaside towns, Empty Homes data shows. Where there's no work, demand for housing declines, and an area can soon become a vandalised wasteland.
Usually, though, a house is empty because of individual circumstances. When someone dies, it can take time to sort out probate, with a property lying empty in the meantime. Sometimes, it's simply not worth doing it up.
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As a result, says Empty Homes, councils should tackle vacant properties on a case-by-case basis.
"Many local authorities and housing providers are seeking to attract funding to tackle empty homes and endeavouring to match this with locally available funds. We believe more could be made of funds, such as right to buy receipts and money that comes through the planning gain process to renovate empty homes," says Williams.
"We also want to encourage the spread of initiatives where local authorities and others transfer empty properties to community-led organisations who have the drive and resources to do them up and create new affordable homes."
Such schemes have been successful in the past, with 20 Victorian houses in Toxteth sold for just £1 each last year to buyers who promised to renovate them.
