"Empty" doesn't necessarily mean that it still owned by the developer and not yet sold on. It can mean that it has been purchased, but that whoever has purchase

"Empty" doesn't necessarily mean that it still owned by the developer and not yet sold on. It can mean that it has been purchased, but that whoever has purchased it has no use for it other than as an investment. We've had this problem in London for years now, mainly in the west towards Vauxhall and beyond, but there are pockets of it all over, and it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. Large new tower blocks containing "luxury apartments" are built, purchased by and often marketed solely to foreign investors and offshore companies as a way of parking large amounts of money into what is seen as a relatively safe investment, with several tax loopholes: Unlike many other investments, property in the UK is not subject to capital gains tax, inheritance tax etc. Also, if the property is owned by an offshore company rather than an individual then stamp duty (5% on £675k or more) is not payable. AFAIK this last loophole was closed last year, but only for properties over £2 million (and, I think the tax is only payable on the remainder that exceeds that). As well as adding to an existing under-supply in the market for actual houses in which actual people can live in, the speculative feedback loop caused by this only drives up property prices further.