Empty homes

Tackling long-term empty homes

Tackling long-term empty properties in Westminster is a key commitment of our Fairer Westminster Strategy to provide fairer housing for all.

Empty properties come in a number of different forms and could include:

• derelict or abandoned house or flats
• empty second homes or holiday homes
• unoccupied properties purchased as investments
• unused flats or accommodation attached to shops and restaurants

Not all properties will be classed as empty homes as they may be unoccupied for legitimate reasons such as building work, probate, or the owner may be working away from home.

Empty properties tend to have a negative effect on the surrounding area, suffer from disrepair, vandalism, and pests, and often attract antisocial behaviour. They also remove a valuable source of housing for our community and negatively affect adjacent properties.

It is sometimes difficult to tell if a property is unoccupied, tell-tale signs may include:

• disrepair to the exterior and windows
• boarded-up windows or doors
• no evidence of comings or goings
• accumulation of post
• no lights on in the property
• enhanced security measures
• no waste collection

Report an empty property

If you believe a property may be empty long term you can use the form below to report this to us. You can report this anonymously if you don’t want us to contact you.

Report an empty property

Financial implications

Long-term empty property premiums may apply. If a property has been empty for two to five years, a premium of 100% will be applied to Council Tax bills. If properties have been empty for more than five years, a premium of 200% will be applied and 300% for properties empty for more than ten years.

Other considerations include:

• increased insurance premiums will also be due as most standard home insurance policies do not allow the property to be vacant for more than 30 days.
• lost rental income that could have been received from letting or leasing the property.
• increased repair and maintenance costs resulting from repair issues that are not dealt with promptly
• damage caused by vandalism or squatters

What can the council do?

We aim to work with owners to bring properties back into use, ideally opening them up to the rental market to provide much needed housing for our community. In cases where owners are not willing to engage there are also a range of enforcement measures that can be used, such as taking over management of the property or through the use of compulsory purchase powers.  

VAT discounts

Bringing empty properties back into use can be costly, particularly where works are required to bring them back to an acceptable standard. Owners can benefit from a reduced rate of VAT if a property that has been vacant for more than two years is brought back into use, reduced to 5% instead of the usual 20%. Renovation work to properties empty for over 10 years will be zero-rated if you intend to live in the property yourself. The council can support you by providing relevant documentation to provide to HMRC. A reduced VAT rate also applies to the installation of certain specified energy-saving materials and measures in residential accommodation.

Respond to a request about an empty property

If we have recently written to you about an empty property, please use the form below to respond using the reference number provided in the letter. 

Respond to a request about an empty property

Read our data protection notice to learn about how the council complies with data protection laws when processing your data.