Campaigners from the charity Empty Homes argue that the Government's figures undercount the real number of empty homes.
More than 200,000 homes in England with a total value of 43 billion pounds ($55 billion) were empty for at least six months in 2016 despite the desperate shortage of properties to rent and buy, the media reported.
Kensington and Chelsea has overtaken Lambeth as the London borough with the most empty houses.
The royal borough had 1,399 empty homes worth £664m, compared with second-placed Croydon, which had 1,216 empty homes worth £577m.
The estimated value of unoccupied in property in London is edging towards the £1bn level, now sitting at £956m after a 13% rise in the past year.
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Only Birmingham and Bradford lie ahead of the city on the list, despite vacant Liverpool properties dropping by more than 750 since April 2016.
Blackpool crept into the worst 20 towns and cities outside London, but achieved the greatest percentage reduction, falling 26% in a year from 1,592 empty homes in 2015 to 1,174 in 2016.
Dan Gandesha, chief executive of Property Partner, said: "These figures lay bare the huge amount of housing stock lying empty across the country". Blackburn shot up the rankings to ninth place after a 35% jump, the biggest increase of any authority outside London, pushing neighbouring Bolton into 10th place.
The total value of Liverpool's long-term empty homes has been estimated at over £750 million. The number rose from 1,179 in 2015 to 1,563 in 2016.
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