Why are empty homes staring at the homeless of the world?

The coexistence of high property vacancy rates and severe homelessness is a paradoxical global crisis. While millions of people lack ‘sustainable shelter’, millions of homes sit empty, often in the same cities and vicinities, driven by economic, environmental, social and demographic factors rather than a lack of physical space and finance. The scale is enormous and is giving housing experts all over the world a great concern!

While an estimated 100 million people are homeless worldwide, with up to 300 million facing severe housing insecurity – mostly lack of security of tenure, about 500 million of homes sit vacant. This scarcity of homes in the midst of abundance is partly due to human nature of greed with “high acquisitive trait” and majorly due to lack of control and organisation by the governments. Human beings can be reckless without control!

In England alone, over one million homes stand empty, or one in every 25, while over 350,000 people are homeless. In the USA, estimates show over 14.9 million vacant homes, with some studies calculating over 21– 45 empty units for every homeless person. Japan faces a “ghost town” scenario with roughly nine million abandoned homes (“akiya”) or 14 percent of its housing stock, due to an aging population. China has numerous ghost cities all across the country, largely unoccupied urban developments featuring high-rise apartments, empty office buildings and empty paved roads due to mass developers’ miscalculation. They are located in Inner Mongolia, Kangbashi District (Ordos), Chenggong (Yunnan), Ling Gang (near Shanghai) etc.

The whole of Cairo is becoming a ghost city after the “massive New Cairo” was built without proper appraisal. In Europe alone, 38 million homes were estimated to be vacant as of 2016, with countries like Cyprus, Hungary and Italy having high vacancy rates of between 12-27 percent. In Africa, most vacant homes are the result of poverty – poverty of the pocket and of the mind. The gestation periods of home construction in Africa is the highest globally with some homes taking about 15 to 20 years to complete. Most of the houses, especially in the peri-urban areas are results of speculation. Few Africans, who are opportune to be in charge of public funds, pilfer as much as they can to invest in real estate – a good haven for money laundry according to Transparency International (TI).

Why are homes staying empty while people are homeless? The phenomenon is not a direct 1:1 match due to several factors. These factors, which vary between different countries, include: 

Housing adequacy: Quantitative housing adequacy is not defined as housing quantity equilibrium. It is not when 100 houses are available to 100 people, for example. There must be excess units of about 10 percent uniformly in all the locations so that householders can have choices.

People should be able to choose the most convenient houses for themselves considering their place of work, children school, location to hospital and market, etc.

Affordability challenge: Empty homes are often high-end investment properties or in areas where people cannot find work (cut-out areas), rather than affordable units in high-demand areas. 

Investment speculation: Many properties are purchased as assets by foreign investors or corporations and intentionally left vacant.

Some local citizens and foreign investors buy homes to launder ill-gotten money, while those in Diaspora buy them as second homes. These beautiful properties stay vacant while homeless people cannot access them. 

Condition and cost: Long-term empty homes often need massive investment for renovations (retrofitting) to make them habitable. This phenomenon makes their owners look the other way. 

Rural decline and aging populations: As seen in Japan, rural areas empty as populations shrink, leaving houses with no heirs to maintain them.

Administrative and legal hurdles: Homes can be stuck in probate, legal disputes or waiting for planning approvals or ownership certificate issues. Example is the properties of the late lawyer, Chief Rotimi Williams, SAN. Some homes are vacant because they are off-plan houses that there is litigation between the buyers and the property developers. Others are because the developers are waiting for grants of certificates of occupancy from governments.

Some insights into vacant properties:

US vacancy misconception: While empty homes exist, only a fraction is “abandoned.” Most are in transition (between tenants/owners), seasonal or undergoing repairs. Mohonk Mountain House, a holiday resort in New York City, USA, has about 262 rooms which are used mostly by tourists for holidays in the summer.

Italy’s Record: Italy has one of the highest rates of unoccupied homes in Europe, with over 9.5 million vacant, representing 27 percent of its total dwellings. Laos has one of the lowest vacant properties in the world because of the property ownership policy of the government. In Laos, about 91 percent of the citizens stay in their own houses.

Solutions to vacant homes in the cities

Governments and organisations, especially non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are working towards striking a balance between housing adequacy and empty homes. While governments are providing support and making laws to curb excesses in housing development, organisations are advocating for “retrofitting” (renovating) empty homes to provide affordable housing, noting this is more carbon-efficient and climate change-compliant than embarking on new housing starts. The vacant houses crisis is not just a housing supply, but of housing distribution and affordability, where property acts as a commodity for wealth storage rather than a basic human need. 

Ireland has the 10th highest rate of vacant homes in the world according to an October 2021 study. In Ireland, the 2022 Census counted 163,433 vacant homes. Japan has over 8.5 million empty properties. In Nigeria, around three million dwellings are vacant with a total cost of about N9 trillion.

What causes homelessness? These are the root causes and precipice for stemming global vacant houses.

We have a global housing mismatch, not a housing shortage. This pattern of housing underutilisation, entrapment and exclusion is not unique to any particular country alone. Governments of nations where we have acute cases of vacant homes need to legislate against it. This is because vacant homes in the midst of homelessness serve as economic sabotage as well as oppression! Governments can make laws that will ensure owners of vacant homes are taxed heavily than owners of occupied ones and those whose houses have been vacant for more than ten years should have their houses forfeited to the government. 

Demolition of excess homes by governments should be imminent to ensure sustainable housing markets. Empty houses are economic wastes to the nations and drains to the purse of the communities where they are located!

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OLUFEMI

Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, MPhil. in Construction Management, managing director/CEO, Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, is an expert in real estate investment, a registered estate surveyor and valuer, and an experienced construction project manager. He can be reached on +2348137564200 (text only) or femoyede@gmail.com