To ask who the hell owns all the..

[OftenHangry]

... empty properties?

There is over 200 000 empty properties in England only.
200 000!
There is a housing crisis yet lots of people leave houses to rot and instead new ones have to be built (and they are much dearer to buy).

There is a house near mine which I suspect is empty, so I checked google and this number came up. 200 000....

Gobsmacked. Why would someone just let a house sit empty?

Marissa - sell house via auction

My DGP house was left empty for nearly 2 years - it was a huge burden on my parents making sure it was shut up and maintained.

It was difficult because my parents couldn't sell and DGP didn't want to. It wasn’t immediately obvious they wouldn’t be coming back to it and by then there was a terminal diagnosis and dementia diagnosis and my parents were already exhausted with DGP care and dealing with work and us their children.

They did look into renting but local agent wanted a lot of working doing -rewiring – before they’d try and rent it and house would have still needed clearing. So it was put off and there were enough savings to cover care home fees for a while.

Then one died then just as probate was coming through the other – then house clearing took a lot of time and energy then it had to sell and suddenly the house has been empty years.

That said, we could always "go French" and force land to be divided amongst children when the owner dies

I asked you in an earlier post what was the maximum amount of land one family should be allowed to own and you said ‘whatever they want’. Now you are saying the Napoleonic Code should be forced on landowners.
Many large estates also have big collections of paintings and works of art. Should the owner be forced to divide these up amongst his/her children?
What would happen to a collection such as that at Chatsworth which is held in a charitable trust and open to the public?
I’m not sure dividing up estates and collections would make much difference to the homeless.

My council actively tackles this. They do go to court to get ownership of long abandoned properties and to force owners to rent or sell properties. But it is a long and complicated process and it is very easy for owners to prolong the process for years.
I also think council tax at a much higher rate after 6 months or a year to force people's hand, would be a great idea.
The same with holiday homes that are only occupied for a few weeks a year.

I asked you in an earlier post what was the maximum amount of land one family should be allowed to own and you said ‘whatever they want’. Now you are saying the Napoleonic Code should be forced on landowners.

Er, I did not say it should be forced on us. I just said that's another way of looking at it. I'm too old, and to cynical to think anything is going to change, really. After all , much of this thread - written in the 21st century - could have been written in any century in the past. Which suggests that "too many people" is lazy thinking (and possibly suits some with an agenda). If that were the real case, then why was there homelessness in the 18th Century - with half the population ? Or the 16th century - half that population again ?

As it's called the "Napoleonic" code, the implication is it was introduced sometime after 1789 ? Presumably replacing something quite different ?

Every single post in this thread might have a solution or part of a solution to the problem the OP raised. Which is a shame really. Because we'll still end up with a Tory or Labour government, so they're all wasted.

I frequently see dilapidated empty properties in my area I suppose once they get past a certain state of disrepair it becomes very expensive to bring them up to modern standards

But they can still be sold. They would fetch a lot less than many might be happy to accept, but that is what they are worth.

True I wonder why they aren't sold then?
better legislation ....some sort of compulsory purchase if houses are left empty past a certain amount of time could help, would that be feasible?

obviously those that stand to make a profit from the lack of affordable housing would lobby against any moves to more fairly distribute the housing that we do have

I frequently see dilapidated empty properties in my area I suppose once they get past a certain state of disrepair it becomes very expensive to bring them up to modern standards

But they are standing on land that is clearly prepared for a residential building ? Which must be a significant chunk of how much a costs "to build a house", surely ? Drains laid. Services available. And best of all, some kind soul has built a **ing road past them. Very attractive to a developer. Especially if they can mash them in to a bigger unit and flog them as (say) a care home ? Which is what's going on round these parts. Mainly to those 1930s pubs you had on a corner of a roundabout called the King George, or George V (thus reminding us of the old-fashioned way of tackling housing problems).

Compulsory purchase can and is done on empty properties. But it is a long process and it is very easy for owners to stop it happening. Basically they just say to the court they are planning to do it up and rent or sell it. The court then turn down the compulsory purchase. Nothing happens, so the local authority go back to court. This can happen a number of times before a compulsory purchase order is given. It can take years.

Maybe something to allow empty properties to requisitioned by councils and used to house people in need

but that would never fly because we have all the Russian oligarchs owning swathes of million pound flats in London and they wouldn't like legislation which prevented them from using the UK property market to launder and park their money 🙄

@abucat, then it would seem to be just a 'simple' matter of tightening up legislation!

probably in reality it is far from simple and there are numerous vested interests with deep pockets who would strenuously oppose these types of things 🙄

One near us was empty for ages when the elderly occupants suddenly went into care but their next of kin didn't have POA to manage their finances and it was very complicated. It wasn't until they passed away, went through probate and NOK inherited the property they could do anything.

Compulsory purchase can and is done on empty properties. But it is a long process and it is very easy for owners to stop it happening.

Wait till your land is in the way of a development and see how quick you lose it.

DG Compulsory purchase process in that instance is easy.
It is a difficult process with neglected empty properties though. Different legislation.

Most around us is not full. They are full to bursting - one of the fullest London boroughs there is even with loads of beds in sheds - more than anywhere in London. So not much empty at all here but we are outer not inner London.

The few I know near me one has taken 10 years so far to do up as the foreign owners get some money to do so. All the empty ones I know about have foreign owners. That is ridiculous but we think they park money from Africa in it which may although I have no evidence of it (just rumour) be illegal money. Second house utter waste been empty for about 3 years at least, may be 4. They have been trying to sell it and to get a planning consent and there are a lot of court actions if you search the famly on the internet including tax cases and again foreign.

Third one owned by first family above too has been empty for about 10 years which is ridiculous - they could easily have let it when the family live near by anyway in another house they own - for a good sum each month. Again we think they are parking money in it as a kind of cashpoint and find letting a hassle and much not need the letting money. I might be totally wrong about the reasons however.

Another one only empty for about 6 months - owner died in the house, had lived there about 60 years and I am sure the family will sell it once they get going with probate etc.
Another fire damaged I think may have obtained a buyer - that seems to have taken a while to be put up for sale since the fire which must be nearly 2 years ago now. Again not English born owners. That of course is not surprising as I live in a very mixed London borough which is probably minority white now. There are loads of non English born people here who own and live in a house and are not leaving it empty . It is just that the houses near me which are empty all have foreign owners. UK is fairly easy to buy in for foreigners or had been until upper rates of stamp duty went to 12% and 15% which killed the market dead.

Funnily enough yesterday myself and my daughter were talking about a property that’s severely run down just off of the road to her school. It’s been empty with half a roof after fire damage for years and years.

I wish someone would find out who owns it so they can buy it and do it up. It would have been gorgeous at one point.

DG Compulsory purchase process in that instance is easy. It is a difficult process with neglected empty properties though. Different legislation.

So we (well I) return to the assertion that the present situation is pretty much intended and by design - a political situation. Not one of population, geography, geology, or finance.. Laws can be changed when there's a will.

Letsmoveondude

I give you Witley Court ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witley_Court

So we (well I) return to the assertion that the present situation is pretty much intended and by design - a political situation. Not one of population, geography, geology, or finance.. Laws can be changed when there's a will

You can count me in on that assertion....there is enough to go round, resources are allocated according to what suits the interests of those in power

There are 50-70 empty MOD owned houses in my town that have been empty for over a year, some much longer that that. Lovely houses, lovely area, big gardens, spacious rooms, left empty and now getting windows smashed, covered in graffiti. MOD may sell to the council, which would be the best outcome as they will probably sell as is. Developers who are interested want to demolish all the houses and rebuild. Probably smaller houses, crammed in and sold at ridiculous prices. The new development currently being built at the end of my road is charging £410,000 for a 3 bed. That's the cheapest on the development. (We're classed as London overspill, obviously as we're 95 miles away ) It's a fucking joke.

there is enough to go round, resources are allocated according to what suits the interests of those in power

I thought it was all down to immigrants ?

Immigrants are very useful when it comes to the machinations of those in power

So, smaller, no gardens and higher density, but more expensive, Daphne?

What’s not to like?

Chardonnays Just what everybody wants! I'm considering protesting at the building site with my "down with this sort of thing" placard. And my "a 3 bedroom house doesn't need 3 fucking bathrooms you weirdos", "No an under-stair cupboard and an airing cupboard does not constitute a wealth of family storage you donuts", "it's not a 4 bedroom house if the 4th bedroom is a cupboard fucks saaaaaakkkee" ones as well. House hunting has been slightly stressful!