Millions of homes lying unoccupied around the world as homelessness soars

There are millions of homes lying unoccupied across the world as the rate of homelessness continues to soar, new research has revealed.

Japan has topped a list of the nations with the highest percentage of vacant homes, with 13.6 per cent of its dwellings not lived in.

An ageing population and a decline in birth rate mean that Japan’s population is currently declining and therefore housing demand is falling.

The second-home tax may also be putting people off inheriting any relatives’ properties, due to hefty fees.

Coming in second is Cyprus, home to 56,851 empty dwellings, which accounts for 1 in 8 homes on the Mediterranean island.

Many of the empty homes are located in the ‘ghost town’ of Varosha, a previous tourist hotspot that has since been abandoned after the country was invaded in 1974.

Hungary also has a high proportion of un-lived in homes, with 12.3 per cent of properties are currently unoccupied.

Like Japan, Hungary has both an ageing and declining population.

Rank	Country	Total homes	Vacant homes	Vacant homes (% of total homes)
1	Japan	62,420,000	8,460,100	13.6%
2	Cyprus	455,410	56,851	12.5%
3	Hungary	4,455,491	550,113	12.3%
4	United States	139,684,000	15,549,000	11.1%
4	Brazil	71,015,000	7,906,767	11.1%
6	Finland	3,076,000	330,000	10.7%
6	Chile	6,486,533	695,199	10.7%
8	Slovenia	852,181	89,728	10.5%
9	Australia	10,562,800	1,039,879	9.8%
10	Ireland	2,003,645	183,312	9.1%

Mortgage experts at money.co.uk analysed OECD data to reveal the countries where empty properties make up the biggest proportion of the total housing.

England ranked 20th in the study, with 225,845 empty homes across the country, which accounts for 0.90 per cent of properties.

However, England also has one of the highest homelessness rates in the world, with 289,800 people thought to be living on the street, a figure higher than the number of vacant houses.

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.