Empty properties - advice

Often the council will endeavour to work with the owner of the empty home while considering the choices available for bringing their empty home back into use.

Once all other options have been exhausted, the council may deem it necessary to exercise enforcement powers to bring an empty property up to the decent home standard and back into residential use. These powers can include:

• Hazard awareness notices: used to notify owners under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) of any high risk conditions or dangerous disrepair issues, which should be dealt with in a property. These are categorised as high risk (category one) and lower risk (category two) hazards
• Improvement notices: requires that owners carry out repairs to any category one, category two or both types of hazard if identified. Failure to comply can result in owners being fined and prosecuted
• Empty dwelling management orders: allow the council to take over the management of any property which has been empty for over six months, with a view to working with owners to bring the property back into effective residential use, rather than forcing a sale
• Enforced sales procedures: allow the council to issue and enforce charges against a property where someone has failed to meet the terms of a statutory notice or where someone owes council tax or other council debts
• Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs): allow the council to acquire land or buildings where there is a justified cause
• Demolition orders: require owners to clear a site and demolish the property with a specific time scale. These orders are usually issued as a last resort if a property is dangerous, beyond repair, or cannot be brought back up to standard

Other statutory action can also be taken if an officer of the council believes that the premise constitutes a statutory nuisance.

Last updated: ‎11/03/2024 15:05