Empty Homes

🏚 Empty Homes – Help Us Bring Them Back to Life

An empty home is a house or flat that has been empty for 6 months or more.

In Tendring, there are hundreds of empty homes—and many people waiting for housing.
Bringing empty homes back into use helps reduce this gap and improves our communities.

🚨 Why Empty Homes Matter

Empty homes can:

• Attract crime, vandalism, and anti-social behaviour
• Make an area look run down
• Be costly to leave empty

🏠 Do You Own an Empty Home?

If your property has been empty for 6 months or more, we may be able to help you:

• Get advice on repairs and making it safe
• Learn about letting your property
• Get help with selling your home
• Connect with buyers or landlords
• Claim reduced VAT on renovation work
  • 5% VAT if empty for 2+ years
  • 0% VAT if empty for 10+ years

📄 Read our Empty Homes Strategy

🕵️ Concerned About an Empty Property?

If there’s an empty home near you causing problems, let us know.
We’ll try to contact the owner and sort things out.
If needed, we can take legal action or even take over the management of the property.

📄 See our Enforcement Powers

📄 Read our Empty Homes FAQs

📞 Contact Us

Private Sector Housing Team
📧 Email: emptyhomes@tendringdc.gov.uk
📞 Phone: 01255 686617