The research found that a third of people surveyed thought there were less than 100,000 empty homes in the country, and only 5 per cent identified that the true figure stands at around 750,000.
Only 4 per cent claimed that derelict houses had affected the value of their home, and more than three quarters of adults thought that empty housing should be used to house the homeless, with a further three quarters claiming that local authorities should stamp out Council Tax rebates for the owners of empty properties. More than half felt that landlords should be given assistance to make houses habitable again - through tax breaks or access to extra funding.
The lender is urging the government and local authorities to take action and incentivise landlords, however, the volume of empty homes would mean that blanket action could cause economic side effects for both house prices and rents.
Phil Jenks, head of mortgages at the Halifax, said: "Halifax would support actions that re-introduce empty housing stock at the right pace and in the right places. The two sides of this problem are both important and both sides need to be balanced to take into account the interests of local communities, homeowners and landlords."
