I want to buy an empty property

Please note: The Councils cannot provide confirmation or details on the occupancy or ownership of any property to third parties.

How can you find an empty property?

If you are interested in finding an empty property to buy and develop (either for your own use or to rent out, develop or sell) then you can try the following:

Estate agents

Your local estate agent should be your first port of call. They might not have photographs of empty properties in their shop window, but that does not mean that they have not got some for sale. Register your interest with them.

Auction houses

Auction catalogues are also a good place to find empty properties that are for sale, especially if you are a cash buyer.

Building land for sale

More often than not building land already has a house on it. Often the house needs demolishing (knocking down) but sometimes it can be saved and rebuilt.

You can check if the property has been removed from Council Tax listings on the Valuation Office Agency website, which will indicate if the property is beyond repair by using the:

Check your Council Tax band tool - on the GOV.UK website

When you have identified a possible empty property

When you have identified a possible empty property you can do a Land Registry search which may reveal the legal owner, although some properties are not registered and others may be out of date and show the owner as living at the address.

Please see:

You can also check the register of planning applications. When a planning application has been made the owner's details (or an agent acting for them) is shown, and this information is available to the public. Sometimes this may also give an indication as to why a property has remained empty, for example if the planning request has been refused and an appeal has been lodged. To view these details please see:

Planning applications

It may also be worth writing a polite note and putting it through the door of the property itself - some owners regularly visit their property even if they leave it empty. Do be aware though that some properties which appear empty may actually be occupied, even though they are in poor condition. Remember these properties are privately owned, so the owners may choose not to sell.

Please note: The Councils cannot provide confirmation or details on the occupancy or ownership of any property to third parties.

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