Tackling Empty Properties – A UK Perspective on Best Practice and Recommendations for Reform

A wasted asset in the midst of housing need

At a time of acute housing pressures, every long-term empty home represents a missed opportunity to provide safe, secure accommodation for individuals and families. Propertymark’s paper explores:

• What constitutes an empty property

• Why homes and commercial buildings become vacant

• The negative impact of empty properties on communities

• Current policy approaches across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

• The role of local authorities

• Best practice case studies

• Detailed recommendations for reform

The report highlights how empty properties can accelerate neighbourhood decline, attract anti-social behaviour, increase maintenance and security risks, and reduce neighbouring property values. For landlords and property agents, prolonged vacancy also means lost income, ongoing financial liabilities and mounting repair costs.

Evaluating current approaches across the UK

The paper analyses legislative and policy measures currently in place, including:

• Council tax premiums introduced under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 in England

• High Street Rental Auctions aimed at revitalising vacant commercial premises

• Wales’ National Empty Homes Grant Scheme

• Scotland’s £2 million loan fund for acquiring and refurbishing empty homes

• Enforcement-focused approaches in Northern Ireland

While financial penalties such as council tax premiums are designed to discourage vacancy, Propertymark warns they are often a blunt instrument that can further deter owners from investing in bringing properties back into use.

Best practice in action

The report showcases successful initiatives, including the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which has helped return more than 43,000 properties to use since 2010 through advice, local authority coordination and dedicated Empty Homes Officers.

It also highlights the work of Leeds City Council’s Empty Homes Doctor service, which provides tailored, practical support to property owners and has helped reduce long-term vacancy levels significantly across the city.

These examples demonstrate that advice, partnership working, and sustained local investment are more effective than punitive measures alone.

Freedom of Information findings reveal resource gaps

Drawing on Freedom of Information responses from 226 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales, Propertymark found:

• Only 38% of councils have an empty homes strategy in place

• Just 41% have at least one dedicated empty homes officer

• Only 25% operate with a dedicated budget for empty homes work

The findings underline the need for ringfenced funding, strategic leadership and properly resourced local teams.

Key recommendations

Propertymark is calling on governments and local authorities to:

• Ringfence funding for dedicated Empty Homes Officers

• Work collaboratively with communities and the third sector to address the root causes of vacancy

• Reform business rates to incentivise reuse of commercial property

• Extend the Welsh Empty Homes Grant Scheme to private landlords

• Introduce targeted regeneration investment in areas with high concentrations of long-term empty homes

• Ensure every local authority has a clear strategy, database and dedicated budget for tackling empty properties

Propertymark also recommends that Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) be reformed to allow earlier intervention, while ensuring consultation with qualified property agents to speed up the return of stock to the market.

Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, comments:

“Long-term empty properties are a visible reminder of a system that is not working as effectively as it should. At a time when housing demand continues to outstrip supply, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes unused is neither economically nor socially sustainable.

“Our research shows that while governments across the UK have introduced a range of measures, too many local authorities lack the dedicated resources, funding and strategic framework needed to deliver meaningful change. Financial penalties alone will not solve the problem. What works is sustained local engagement, professional advice, and properly funded empty homes teams that can support owners through the process of bringing properties back into use.

“This paper sets out practical, deliverable reforms that would help unlock this wasted stock, revitalise high streets and neighbourhoods, and provide much-needed homes for communities across the country.”

A call for coordinated reform

Propertymark represents around 19,000 members across 12,500 branches. As a member-led organisation with a Board made up of practising agents, it works to raise standards through regulation, recognised qualifications, industry-leading training and mandatory Continuing Professional Development. To search for a local expert agent near you, visit: www.propertymark.co.uk/find-an-expert

The organisation is urging governments across the UK to adopt a balanced approach that combines practical support, professional expertise and proportionate enforcement to unlock the potential of empty properties and strengthen communities.

The position paper can be read in full, here: www.propertymark.co.uk/resource/tackling-empty-properties