• Empty Homes
• What happens next
• The bigger picture
• Our Strategy

Empty Homes

A home that stands empty causes problems. It can attract vandals, fly tippers, burglars, squatters, drug addicts and prostitutes. Its gardens can become overgrown and filled with rubbish. Roofs and brickwork can become unsafe and the whole building can soon become an eyesore. An empty home can impact on surrounding homes and inhabitants by:-

• causing damp in adjoining houses,
• attracting vermin,
• attracting anti-social behaviour,
• the reduction of house prices in the area
• making it difficult for neighbours to sell their houses.

If you know of a privately owned empty home please report it to us. Contact the empty homes officer on 0115 9156170.

What happens next

We will inspect the problem and make efforts to trace the owner. If there are any associated problems e.g. accumulations of refuse or open doors or windows we will send the owner an official request to secure the property or clear the rubbish. If they do not respond we can do the work on their behalf and send them the bill. We will attempt to enter into a dialogue with the owner to work towards reoccupation of the home, giving help where we can.

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If an owner refuses to bring their house back into use the Council has several options available:

•  We can force the sale of the property if it owes the council substantial amounts of money for work we have had to do to the house. We will recover our costs and ensure that the new owner enters into a contract to have the house reoccupied within a set period.
• We can enforce an Empty Dwelling Management Order. This allows the Council to take over management of the house and let it out to tenants. We will recover our costs from the rental. The owner may receive any money left over. This option is only available on houses in need of very little repair to make them habitable.
• In other situations we may compulsorily purchase the house and sell it on to someone who enters into a contract to have the house reoccupied within a set period.

The bigger picture

The Government and Nottingham City Council are committed to tackling the problem of empty homes. With record demands for housing, it makes sense to use existing unused housing stock before creating an irreversible impact on the environment by building on greenfield sites.

If you have any queries or wish to report an empty home Contact Environmental Health

Our Strategy

Nottingham City Council has formally adopted a strategy to deal with empty homes and other land. For more information  Click here to see our strategy 2009 - 2011 [95kb]