Reading Has Over 1,400 Homes Sitting Empty — And The Council’s Strategy To Tackle It Runs Out This Year

Liberal Democrat Councillors in Reading are calling on the Labour-controlled Council to urgently refresh its Empty Homes Strategy, after new Government figures revealed that more than 1,400 properties in the borough are sitting outside the housing market — and with no public sign that a successor strategy is being planned.

Data from the Government's Council Taxbase statistics, collected in October 2025 and published in January 2026 — the most recent available — shows that Reading has 1,162 empty and unfurnished properties, of which 474 have been vacant for more than a year. A further 285 properties are registered as second homes. Ten properties have been empty for more than a decade.

Reading Borough Council's current Empty Homes Strategy runs until the end of 2026. When it was adopted, it set a target of bringing just 30 long-term empty homes back into use each year — a figure that looks increasingly inadequate against the scale of the problem. There is no public announcement, committee paper, or Council plan reference indicating that a refresh or successor strategy is in preparation.

The Council Plan 2025–2028, published earlier this year, sets out ambitions for new housebuilding and acquisitions but makes no specific mention of empty homes. The strategy appears set to expire quietly, with nothing to replace it.

Cllr Meri O’Connell, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tilehurst Ward, said:

"Reading has over 1,400 homes sitting empty or unused, including ten that have been vacant for more than a decade. At the same time, families are on housing waiting lists, rough sleeping is a persistent problem, and young people cannot afford to rent or buy in this town. The Council's strategy to tackle this runs out at the end of this year; the target it set — 30 homes a year — was never ambitious enough, and there is no sign whatsoever that a replacement is coming. That is simply not good enough."

The call is backed by Citizens UK Reading, whose recent Accountability Assembly called on Council leaders to refresh, renew, and reinvigorate the Empty Homes Strategy as a matter of urgency.

Reading's Liberal Democrats are calling on the Council to:

• Commit publicly to a refreshed Empty Homes Strategy before the current one expires at the end of 2026, with meaningful targets and genuine accountability
• Ringfence empty homes premium revenue — estimated to raise over £1.18 million per year — for active work to bring properties back into use, rather than absorbing it into the general fund
• Publish an annual update on empty homes in Reading, broken down by ward
• Use Empty Dwelling Management Order powers more actively for properties that have been vacant for five years or more
• Explore loans and leasing schemes to support private owners to bring empty homes back into use, going beyond the Council's existing acquisitions programme