British Homeowners Have More Empty Bedrooms Than Ever

(Bloomberg) --

The U.K. housing crisis is getting worse as a record 53.5% of homeowners lived with empty bedrooms last year, compared with just 14.6% of renters, according to Bloomberg Economics. The problem has been blamed partly on stamp duty making homeowners more reluctant to downsize. A 1% increase in stamp duty on homes valued between 250,000 pounds ($300,000) and 1 million pounds can reduce the annual churn in property transactions by 5%, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

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