Empty Spaces To Homes Toolkit

Habitat for Humanity Great Britain’s Empty Spaces to Homes Toolkit

Our toolkit helps local community-based organisations and charities across the UK to convert vacant, commercial spaces into good quality social housing.

On this page you can download the Empty Spaces to Homes Toolkit, find out how to join our Coalition, and more.

  • According to research published by Habitat for Humanity and the Empty Homes Network in 2021, there are an estimated 7,000 commercial and business premises across England, Scotland, and Wales, currently owned by Local Authorities, which have been empty for over a year. It is estimated that these spaces have the potential to create over 19,500 residential unitsthrough the conversion of vacant office and retail space.
  • This opportunity is even greater when you consider the estimated 165,000 privately-owned commercial and business premises which remain empty across Great Britain

  • Habitat for Humanity GB’s Empty Spaces to Homes approach aims to demonstrate best practice, scalable solutions to the UK housing crisis that can be unlocked through the potential of empty non-residential stock.
  • In Habitat for Humanity GB’s experience, housing can be the bottleneck which prevents organisations from helping the people they support to thrive, and move from crisis mode to long term independence.

  • Through existing pilots in London and Warsaw, Poland, and a further project planned for Scotland, we have established a replicable model for transforming empty buildings into decent homes.
  • With the learning we’ve gained, we have developed an open-source toolkit to share this model which local authorities, community groups, civil society organisations, and socially minded private sector property owners can use as a guide to transform redundant space, giving it a second life as housing.

the empty spaces to homes toolkit physical copy

Download the Toolkit

Based on insights from extensive research and case studies, our Empty Spaces to Homes Toolkit provides guidance on developing and delivering empty spaces programmes that are translatable and adaptable for a variety of markets. Click the link below to download the Toolkit now.
Get the Toolkit
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Join Our Coalition

There are many empty and vacant spaces lying unused across the UK, Poland and the rest of mainland Europe. Through renovation and reconstruction we can support homelessness prevention and help address the housing crisis. Click below if you want to be a part of the change.
Get In Touch
empty space stock

Found an Empty Space?

Our social enterprise team are on hand to project manage the renovation and refurbishment of empty spaces into decent homes. If you have identified an empty space in need of refurbishment and would like to set up a consultation, email us today.
Email Our Team

Help us transform Empty Spaces into Homes in Great Britian

Download the Empty Space Spotter App

The Empty Spaces app enables people to identify and upload photographs of vacant commercial properties in their own communities. By unlocking the power of the crowd, we can raise the profile of the potential of empty and disused properties in solving Great Britain’s housing crisis.

Sharing this data will encourage local authorities and socially minded private owners to develop a pipeline of transformable properties with the potential for housing development.

Learn More About The App