A divided society-what can be done?

No trisher I don't. Nor do I think that legislation by enforcement is the answer.

Some people do, trisher, even those who profess to be socialist.

But if those families are not paying for their B&B accommodation trisher as you imply, they are not in a position to buy a property. If you put them into a privately rented flat and paid the owner, you're still left with people profiting from their situation.
I can't think of any area in the UK where there has been no rental property available for years, so there must be other issues to consider in your example too.
A lot of the empty homes in London are very expensive. If you rent them out at below market rent, the owners are taxed as if they received market rent. There's no way a local authority could justify paying to house some families in luxury properties.

Why not? Some of the families will be working some not. All probably receiving housing benefit which is currently going into the hands of B&B owners or private landlords. Compulsorily purchase empty properties, they belong to the council, are used to house families, housing benefit goes back to the council. Alternatively CP and sell on, use cash to adapt or build council housing and rest follows!

People who leave properties empty are not leaving people homeless.

All this - let's take properties off the wealthy sounds envious.

What are the sizes of these luxurious empty houses?

I think the royals have a few palaces, castles, apartments they don't use. Maybe we should start with them.

Gilly, did you have to bring up the properties of the Windsors?

Andrew has a thirty bedroomed house in the grounds of Windsor castle and with that house goes eight properties for staff .

Queenie spend less than three months a year in Sandringham, and about three months a year in Balmoral. This leaves her with .Buck house and
Windsor castle for six months of the year .

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/02/revelations-about-empty-homes-in-grenfell-area-simply-unacceptable

Well if we are taking about taking over unused properties it's only fair that they set a good example . After all they are the people us minions are supposed to respect and look up to.

Lead by example......

All of this - buy-to-let, buy-for-not-let, empty homes is totally irrelevant. If houses are available to be bought as an investment then some people will buy them as an alternative to a pension fund, savings etc.

This is the private sector - what is needed is more social housing and talk of compulsory purchase of people's property is just hot air - it is like saying that someone has saved too much in investment funds, the bank, whatever, for their retirement - let's take it off them and give it to the poor.
What is needed is more decent social housing at affordable rents - if there was sufficient then people owning buy-to-let whether renting them out or not may perhaps then sell and first-time buyers would have more houses available to purchase at a reasonable price.

Perhaps all the Guardian staffers who have 2nd and 3rd homes could show us the way too. First dibs on the fabulous Tuscan villa owned by Polly Toynbee.

Jalima You are spoiling the whole conversation here by posting very sensible suggestions, that no one can disagree with, would probably work and solve the problem for most people.

Perhaps next on the list will be shoes , no one needs seven pairs of shoes, keep one pair give six to a shoe charity set up by the mighty Corby

Ha ha they virtually did just that in Cyprus Jalima.

( took money out of bank accounts that is)

People don't buy properties to rent out because they care about the lack of social housing and are desperate to help . They do it to make money for themselves.

Champage socialists make me sick . They talk the talk but never walk the walk !

If I buy business premises and want to change their use I have to apply for planning permission and the whole thing is looked at very carefully regarding the area, what the effects would be etc. But I can buy housing and leave it empty without anything being said. IMO that constitutes a change of use, the planning laws should be amended to prevent this happening. It isn't just to do with homelessness but also with the proper use of an area and how a city functions.

Newcastle does not have a homeless problem .

Isn't homelessness and the plight of the poor hilarious, Bet some of you went to church and /or prayed today. Such compassion!!!

Tell that to the People's Kitchen volunteers who feed them at night. Come to the Monument one night and see them.

That's interesting gillybob

trisher no one is making fun of the homeless. I would imagine they have all experienced a unique journey and there are many contributing factors to their current situation. The only thing I'd bet is that an empty house in Kensington owned by a Russian oligarch is not one of them.