The numbers of empty properties in England have fallen to a 10-year low, new figures show.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles welcomed the news as "a significant achievement".

The latest data shows that as of October 2013, there were 635,127 empty homes across the country, down by around a fifth since 2009 and their lowest level since 2004.

However Mr Pickles especially welcomed the dramatic drop in the numbers of long-term vacant properties, which fell by around a third over the past 4 years, from 316,251 in 2009 to 216,050 in 2013.

Delivering more homes is a key part of the government's long-term economic plan and with this in mind ministers have introduced a wide range of measures to bring back into use homes that have stood empty and unused for years.

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This includes:

• a £235 million empty homes funding programme, which will deliver 12,000 homes from empty properties by March 2015 – with apprenticeships on offer to make this happen

• rewarding councils for bringing empty homes back into use through the New Homes Bonus – since April 2011, councils have received over £2.2 billion for bringing over 93,000 empty homes back into use, which they can then use to benefit the wider community

• giving councils new powers to remove Council Tax subsidies to empty homes, and use the funds to keep the overall rate of Council Tax down

• cancelling the Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes, instead focusing on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use

Mr Pickles said: "Empty properties can blight entire neighbourhoods, becoming a magnet for antisocial behaviour when they should be family homes.

"So I'm pleased to see that the efforts we've made to bring these homes back into use have helped bring the numbers down to a 10-year low, with the number of long-term empty homes down by around a third since 2009.

"This is on top of the wider efforts we’re making to get the country building, with 420,000 new homes delivered since 2010 – including 170,000 affordable homes."

(CD/MH)