RBC can help bring your empty property back into use
Last updated: 9/3/2026
Empty Homes Week runs from today (March 9) until March 15, spotlighting the vital work councils, housing professionals, and local partners are doing to bring long-term empty homes back into use.
Unoccupied homes can be detrimental to the lives of those in local communities and can cause problems such as vandalism, anti-social behaviour and nuisance and reduce the value of surrounding properties.
The Council offers a range of advice and support tools to assist owners over their empty home hurdle including:
- Free property appraisal, including current value, rental value if habitable and cost of refurbishment works
- Links to estate agents and property investors, in order to find the most appropriate sale route for the owner
- Links with letting agents to advise on letting the property to family units, students, or as a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO)
- Advice on upgrades to the property, to ensure all current regulatory standards are adhered to
- Advice on VAT and tax implications of being a landlord
- Guidance on the reduced rate of VAT on refurbishments of properties empty over two years
- A referral to other Council departments, such as planning or housing standards where necessary.
RBC also has a dedicated Empty Homes Officer who is helping to put empty properties in the Borough back into use by identifying their homeowners and working with them to take action to prevent waste resources.
RBC continues to reach out to empty homeowners. If an owner fails to respond to repeated attempts to contact them, and there are no signs that the property will be occupied in the near future, the Council can consider a range of enforcement options.
They include compulsory purchase orders, an empty dwelling management order, enforced sale to recover debt or improvement notices where the Council can carry out the improvement works if the owner fails to themselves.