There are over 542,000 empty homes in England, a number that has been rising for the past five years. Of these, around 265,000 are classed as long‑term vacant, meaning they have been empty for six months or more. This figure doesn’t include second homes, holiday lets, and properties that are unoccupied due to exemptions. You may have walked past an empty property without knowing. However, there can be signs when you look closer to the property.
How to identify an empty home?
Some properties may appear occupied because tenants are between contracts, renovations are underway, or night‑shift workers keep irregular hours. However, when several signs persist for weeks or even months, it often indicates something different. In many of these cases, the homes have been sitting empty for 6 months or more.
These are some of the signs that a property might be long‑term empty:
- A car on the drive gathering dust, leaves, and flat tyres.
- Post jammed in the letterbox or piling up untouched on the mat.
- Curtains or windows that never move.
- No signs of action, such as bins that don’t appear on collection days or lights on at night.
- Visible deterioration to the property including peeling paint, broken windows or a damaged roof.
- Overgrown gardens that make it difficult to access the property.
What is classed as a “long term empty”?
A property is classified as long-term empty once it has been unoccupied for more than 6 months. Councils use this definition to decide whether to apply the Empty Homes Premium tax charge.
Councils apply financial pressure on empty property owners, and they can increase fast if they don’t act. A property empty for one to five years can face a 100% premium, doubling the standard council tax bill. If a property has been empty for five to ten years, the premium rises to 200%. And once a home has stood empty for over a decade, councils can charge a 300% premium.
Why homes sit empty?
Most of the time, properties sit empty because they have been inherited. When someone passes away intestate (without a will), their estate including any property is passed to the next of kin. Modern family structures and the reality of people moving away often make this process complicated. Loved ones may be estranged, families may be scattered across the country, or relatives may not even know they are entitled to the property. For councils, identifying and locating the rightful heirs can be a challenging task.
In other cases, the next of kin may already own a home and feel unable to take on the responsibility of managing an additional property. This can leave the inherited home in limbo, sitting empty for extended periods of time.
Why is this a problem?
Empty properties are reported to us for many reasons. Most often by neighbours who are affected by the property’s condition or worried about how it may impact their own homes. When left abandoned, homes can quickly attract vandalism, squatting, and environmental damage, all of which can decrease the value and appeal of the surrounding area. Getting an empty home back into use can reverse that.
In England, there are over 350,000 homeless people either sleeping rough or in temporary accommodation. There is an increasing demand for housing due to housing shortages and a growing population. Every empty property has the potential to be a secure place for someone or a family to live in. However, these properties need to be reported.
What happens when a property is reported?
Report Empty Properties specialises in finding property owners and locating next of kin to get the property back into use.
The team will review the information you’ve provided, including the postcode, address, and any additional details you’ve noted about the property.
Once this review is complete, we will begin investigating the property. We identify and confirm the property owner to begin an open conversation about the property status.
How much you can earn for reporting an empty property
We have a rewards structure to thank our reporters for their contribution. If the property you report meets our criteria, you will receive a £20 referral voucher.
If we successfully purchase the property you reported, you will also receive 10% of our fee for handling and selling the property. This is capped at a maximum payment of £10,000.
How to report an empty property
You may start noticing empty properties round your area, a neighbour’s house may never have the light on or puts the bins out on collection day. On your route to work, you may notice a property’s Christmas decorations haven’t moved for over a year. Every property has their own story.
Do you know of an empty property? It only takes thirty seconds to report a property. You can fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon.
