Manchester City Council is calling on residents to help identify long-term empty properties as it ramps up efforts to bring hundreds of vacant homes back into use and ease pressure on the city’s housing crisis.
The appeal comes as the council progresses its draft Empty Homes Strategy following a public consultation that received strong backing from residents. More than four in five respondents (83%) supported the strategy’s aim of returning empty homes to active use.
While the number of long-term empty homes in Manchester is close to a historic low, the council says every vacant property represents a missed opportunity to house local families and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.
Public concern remains high. According to the consultation, 86% of respondents said they were concerned about empty homes in their neighbourhood, with many highlighting issues including disrepair, fly-tipping, safety hazards and anti-social behaviour.
COMPLEX OWNERSHIP ISSUES
The council is encouraging residents to report suspected empty properties online or directly to its Empty Homes Team. Officers will investigate ownership and work with property owners to develop plans to bring homes back into use.
Since its expansion in November 2024, the dedicated Empty Homes Team has helped return 560 properties to occupation across the city.
Many empty homes are privately owned and can involve complex ownership issues, including probate cases where the owner has died. In such instances, the council works with genealogy agencies and probate investigators to trace relatives and help resolve ownership matters.
HOUSING CRISIS
Councillor Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Development, says: “For more than a decade the Council has worked across the city on long-term interventions to tackle empty homes and open up housing for those that need it most.
“And while we have achieved lots in that time, bringing empty homes down to a record low, those that remain represent some of the most stubborn – homes that have a complex history and often impact neighbourhoods most.
“The new and expanded empty homes team have done some great work since November 2024 to bring nearly 600 homes back into use all across the city.”
MUCH NEEDED HOMES
He adds: “To think, if we could bring all empty homes back into use, then we could provide more homes for those on the housing register and take pressure off the whole housing system.
“The potential of making empty homes a thing of the past is huge for Manchester families looking for a place to call home – and a significant part of tackling the housing crisis.
“One of our first lines of defence is local intelligence. That’s residents keeping an eye out in their own neighbourhoods and quickly reporting a home they think is empty.”
