Empty homes ‘key to alleviating debt’

The Times argues that there are as many as 420,000 empty homes across the UK and suggests that, instead of building new properties to help reduce the amount of debt being taken on by first time buyers, the government should be looking to unlock these for people to move into.

However, the newspaper also acknowledges that there are significant regional differences across the UK in terms of housing availability, meaning that property prices are soaring in some areas while in others affordability and debt is far less of a problem for homebuyers.

Therefore, more needs to be done to tackle these regional differences so that those who are taking on large levels of debt in areas such as the south-east and London can alleviate some of their debt burden.