The council is committed to working with homeowners and members of the public to address some of the problems associated with empty homes in the city.  We would like to hear from you if you are concerned about an empty home in your neighbourhood or if you own an empty property and would like to bring it back into use.

What we are doing

We are working to address some of the problems associated with empty properties homes by:

• securing empty properties that are open to trespass to secure them against unauthorised entry
• working together with our partners, including: North Yorkshire Police; North Yorkshire Fire &  Rescue Service; Planning & Building Control and the Street Environment Service.
• seeking the long-term occupation of empty homes
  

We are working to bring empty properties back into use by:

• responding to enquires and complaints from local residents
• offering encouragement and advice to the owners of empty properties with regard to the options available to them
• offering financial assistance to owners of empty homes in the shape of loans (subject to availability
• implementing the Council's Empty Homes Strategy and Action Plan (available to download on this page).

Reporting an empty property

You can notify us of an empty property in your area by reporting it by phone; letter or email. 

We ask that you provide us with your name; address and contact telephone number for our own records but these will not be passed on to anyone else.  It is important that you provide us with as much information as possible so that we have the best chance of contacting the owner.

You can also submit a report of an empty property online.

Following receipt of your report we will seek to contact the owner to find out what their intentions are and if open to trespass we will take steps to secure it.  Please note that we will not be able to provide you with information about the owner but you may be able to obtain some information yourself through the Land Registry. 

If you own an empty property

We would like to speak to you to find out how we can help you bring your empty property back into use.  The leaflet  'Empty Properties - Making them work for you' is available to download to the right of this page and seeks to inform owners how much money their empty property is losing them.

If owners of empty properties do not work with the council or make insufficient efforts to bring an empty property back into use we may be left with no option but to take formal action such as a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). 

For further advice or information on the assistance available to empty property owners, please contact the Housing Standards and Adaptations Team using the contact details above.