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The Empty Homes Starter Pack | James Property

James Property University

Empty Homes
Starter
Pack

How to get on the council lists that bring sellers to you, and how to pay 5% VAT instead of 20% on the refurb. Researched July 2026.

JPU

300k+

Empty Homes

Councils

Confirmed

Free To Join Council registers cost nothing to sign up to

10 Confirmed Contacts taken from each council's own website

VAT Relief 20% drops to 5% on homes empty 2 years or more

Researched July 2026. Sources: each council's own website, Action on Empty Homes, the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, and Propertymark's 2026 research across 226 councils. Schemes open and close with funding, so always confirm on the council's own page before relying on one.

JPU TIP: Start with the 10 confirmed councils in this guide. Two minutes each using the email below. Ten councils is one afternoon, and then the opportunities come to you.

Get The Full Council Tracker

All 36 councils in one spreadsheet. The scheme each one offers, the contact route, whether it is confirmed, and columns to log the date you sent and track every reply. Free.

Download the Council Tracker

36 councils · 10 confirmed contacts · National resources included

Why Empty Homes

There are over 300,000 long term empty homes in England. Every one of them is a problem the council is actively trying to solve, and most investors have no idea the council will help.

Empty properties attract fly tipping and antisocial behaviour, they drag down the value of every house on the street, and they sit on a waiting list the council has to answer for. So councils will work with investors who bring them back into use.

For you, that means three things worth having. Less competition, because these properties often never reach Rightmove, so you are not bidding against fifty other buyers on a listing that went live this morning. Refurb potential, because empty means neglected, and neglected means there is value to add, which is exactly what a Buy Refurbish Refinance strategy needs. And VAT relief, because a home empty two years or more drops your refurb VAT from 20% to 5%.

How It Actually Works

Two things doing the rounds online are wrong. Here is the honest version, so you know what to expect before you email anyone.

✕ Not true

"Every council legally must have an empty homes officer"

Propertymark surveyed 226 councils in 2026 and found only 41% have a dedicated empty homes officer, and only 38% have an empty homes strategy at all. Roughly six in ten councils have nobody whose job this is.

✕ Not true

"Register and they post you a monthly list"

Most councils cannot. Hull City Council and Sheffield City Council both state plainly that they are unable to share a list of empty properties, because owner details are personal data.

✓ What actually happens, and it is better

The register works in reverse, and that is the whole point

You sign up free. Then when the owner of an empty property comes to the council for help, the council passes your details to that owner. Leeds City Council goes further and publishes its register of interested investors publicly, so owners can approach you directly. You are not chasing properties. The seller comes to you, before the property ever reaches the open market.

The 10 Confirmed Councils

Every contact below was taken from that council's own website. These are ready to email today. Start here, then work outwards using the full tracker.

Council	What they offer	Contact	Worth knowing
Investor Registers — the ones that bring sellers to you
Manchester City CouncilGreater Manchester	Investors register, free Confirmed	emptyhomesteam@manchester.gov.uk	Free to join. The council notifies registered investors of empty properties that may suit them. They will also lease a property from an owner directly.
Leeds City CouncilWest Yorkshire	Investors register, published Confirmed	EmptyHomes@leeds.gov.uk	The strongest of the lot. Leeds publishes its investor register publicly, so owners can contact you directly. Also runs a free Empty Homes Doctor advice service.
Hull City CouncilEast Yorkshire	Investors register, free Confirmed	housing.standards@hullcc.gov.uk	3,500+ empty homes, nearly 2,000 empty over 6 months. Cannot share a list, data protection. Council tax premium 100% at 1 year, 200% at 5, 300% at 10.
North East LincolnshireGrimsby, Lincolnshire	Buyer matching, plus loans and grants Confirmed	homeimprovementteam@nelincs.gov.uk 01472 326296	No formal register, but officers say they will help find a buyer and liaise with investors. Loans and grants available subject to council funding.
Grants and Incentives
Liverpool City CouncilMerseyside	Grant, £5,000 to £20,000 Confirmed	privatesector.housing@liverpool.gov.uk	Best English grant found for landlords. Renovate a property empty 12+ months in return for council nomination rights for 3 years at LHA rate, works to Decent Homes Standard. £7.3m fund.
City of WolverhamptonWest Midlands	£500 towards seller's fees Confirmed	rwc.callusfirst@wolverhampton.gov.uk	Up to £500 towards legal and marketing fees when a long term empty sells on the open market. Useful leverage when negotiating with a motivated owner.
Advice, Enforcement and Owner Tracing
Newcastle City CouncilTyne and Wear	Advice, signposts VAT relief Confirmed	privaterentedservices@newcastle.gov.uk 0191 277 1438	No grant, loan or register, but the council actively signposts the 5% VAT relief for properties empty 2 years or more. Uses EDMOs and enforced sale.
East Riding of YorkshireEast Yorkshire	Advice and owner tracing Confirmed	housing.services@eastriding.gov.uk	Publishes a "Tracing the Owner of an Empty Property" guide, genuinely useful if you want to find sellers yourself rather than wait for a register.
Birmingham City CouncilWest Midlands	Empty property team Confirmed	emptyproperty@birmingham.gov.uk 0121 303 7978	Around 5,406 vacant homes. Largely enforcement focused rather than investor facing, but worth being known to them in a city that size.
Hartlepool Borough CouncilTees Valley	Empty homes reporting Confirmed	selectivelicensing@hartlepool.gov.uk 01429 266522	No register, grant or loan found. Council tax premium doubles after 1 year empty, which is what pushes owners to sell.

That is 10 of 36. The full tracker has every council, the grants, the loans, and space to track your replies.

Download the Tracker

The Biggest Money On The Table

These schemes are real and substantial, but the contact route or current terms need checking on the council's own page first. Funding opens and closes.

Scheme	On offer	How it works	Check first
Interest Free and Low Interest Loans
Kent, No Use EmptyAll 12 Kent districts	£175k	Interest free. £25,000 per unit, up to £175,000 per applicant. Loans to let repayable up to 3 years, loans to sell on first sale or within 24 months. Also reduced auction commission.	The flagship UK scheme, roughly 8,600 to 9,000 homes brought back into use. Apply via no-use-empty.org.uk Confirm
FlintshireWales	£35k	Interest free, up to £35,000 per unit and £250,000 per applicant. The council holds a share of the property, repaid on sale within 2 to 3 years. Property vacant 6 months or more.	Houses into Homes scheme Confirm
Cornwall, Derby, BurnleyThree separate schemes	Varies	Interest free or fixed rate renovation loans. Derby also buys empties direct and arranges leases to housing providers with 2 to 15 years of guaranteed income.	Derby's team has twice won Practitioner of the Year Confirm
Grants
Wales, national scheme17 participating authorities	£25k	Up to £25,000 per property, you fund at least 15%. Property empty 12 months or more. Owner occupier only, you must live there as your only residence for 5 years, so this is not for a rental.	Administered by Rhondda Cynon Taf, 01443 494712 Confirm
Wigan CouncilGreater Manchester	£25k	Up to £25,000 excluding VAT, repaid through a rent free period on a minimum 5 year council lease at around 80% of market rent. Property vacant 2 years or more, no council tax arrears.	Pilot scheme, check it is still open Confirm
Cheshire West and ChesterCheshire	£10k	Up to £2,000 for owner occupiers, or up to £10,000 for a landlord letting at affordable rent with council nomination for 5 years. Property empty 18 months or more and non decent.	Check the current funding round Confirm
Scotland — The Shortcut
Scottish Empty Homes PartnershipAll 32 Scottish councils	National	Runs a national Matchmaker service linking buyers with empty property owners, and publishes a public directory of empty homes officers for every Scottish council. Brought 2,066 homes back into use in 2024 to 2025.	emptyhomespartnership.scot 0344 515 1941 Confirm

The Registration Email

Copy this, replace the orange placeholders, send. Two minutes per council. It works for any council in the country, including those with no register.

Subject: Request to join the empty homes investors register

Dear Empty Homes Team,

I am a property investor looking to purchase and bring empty homes in your area back into use, and I would like to be added to your empty homes investors register, or the equivalent scheme your council operates.

My details are as follows:

Name: [Your full name]
Organisation: [Your company name, or delete this line]
Address: [Your full address]
Phone: [Your phone number]
Email: [Your email address]
Area of interest: [Postcode area or district you want to buy in]

I confirm that I wish to be placed on the investors register, and I consent to my details being shared with owners of empty properties who may wish to sell.

If your council does not operate a register, I would welcome any guidance on how investors can assist in bringing empty homes in your area back into use, including any enforced sales or auction disposals you expect to advertise.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,
[Your name]

Why it is written this way: it gives the council every detail Hull asks for, so there is no back and forth. The consent line is the legal permission a council needs before it can pass your details to an owner, leave it out and you will not be added. The final paragraph covers councils with no register, so the same email works everywhere. For any council not in the confirmed list, search "[council name] empty homes" and use the result on their own .gov.uk site. No reply after 14 days? Send it again with "Follow up:" at the front of the subject line.

The VAT Cheat Sheet

Refurbishing an empty home carries two of the best VAT breaks in UK property. This is the part with real money in it.

20% → 5%

Empty for 2 years or more

Reduced rate on renovation work to a dwelling that has been empty for the 2 years before work starts.

Covers your contractor's labour and the materials they supply and fit.

The trick: the contractor charges 5% on their invoice. Materials you buy yourself over the counter stay at 20%, so let the builder buy them.

Empty for 10 years or more

Renovate a dwelling empty for 10 years or more and sell it, and the first sale can be zero rated, letting you reclaim the VAT on the project.

Doing it up to live in yourself? The DIY Housebuilders Scheme can refund the VAT instead.

The stricter of the two reliefs. Take advice before you rely on it.

What The 5% Rate Actually Saves You

Illustrative, assuming the whole spend runs through a VAT registered contractor at the reduced rate

Refurb cost	VAT at 20%	VAT at 5%	You save
£20,000 refurb	£4,000	£1,000	£3,000
£40,000 refurb	£8,000	£2,000	£6,000
£60,000 refurb	£12,000	£3,000	£9,000
Typical saving on a standard BRR refurb			£6,000

The Conditions, In Plain English

The full period, immediately before

The property must have been empty for the full 2 years, or 10, immediately before the work starts. Brief occupation can reset the clock entirely.

Get the evidence first

The gold standard is a letter from the council's empty homes officer, or council tax records showing the property empty. Get this before work starts, not after.

Your contractor applies it

The 5% rate goes on their invoice, so it is their call. Show them the evidence and point them to HMRC VAT Notice 708 if they hesitate.

Let the builder buy materials

Materials supplied and fitted by the contractor carry the 5% rate. Anything you buy yourself over the counter stays at 20%. This one decision is worth thousands.

Renovation, not extension

The reliefs cover renovation of a dwelling. Extensions and outbuildings have their own rules, so check before you assume the whole job qualifies.

Keep the paperwork

Every invoice and the council letter, filed with your project records. If HMRC ever asks, the evidence is what protects the claim.

National Resources Worth Bookmarking

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

National Matchmaker service plus a public directory of empty homes officers for all 32 Scottish councils. emptyhomespartnership.scot

Kent, No Use Empty

The flagship loan scheme, and the template other regions copied. Contacts for every district officer. no-use-empty.org.uk

Welsh National Empty Homes Grant

Up to £25,000 across 17 Welsh authorities. Owner occupier only. gov.wales

Action on Empty Homes

The data. Empty homes numbers by council and nationally, from MHCLG figures. actiononemptyhomes.org

Empty Homes Network

700+ practitioner members. Useful for working out which councils have an active officer. ehnetwork.org.uk

HMRC VAT Notice 708

The rules behind the 5% and 0% reliefs. Your contractor may well ask you for this. gov.uk, search VAT Notice 708

Your Action Plan

Everything in this pack, in the order to do it.

When	What you do
This week	Download the tracker. Email the ten confirmed councils using the template above. Log the dates as you go.
Week two	Work through the rest. Search each council, find the live contact, send the same email. Aim for twenty councils in total.
Week three	Chase anything silent after 14 days. Persistence is normal here, and it is where most people quit.
When a lead comes in	Before you offer, ask the council in writing how long the property has been empty. That letter is what unlocks the 5% VAT rate.
Before the refurb	Agree the reduced VAT rate with your contractor in advance, and let them buy the materials so the rate applies to them.

Take The Tracker With You

Every council in this guide, plus twenty six more, in one spreadsheet. Contacts, schemes, and columns to log the date you sent and every reply that comes back.

Download the Council Tracker

Free · 36 councils · 10 confirmed contacts · No sign up needed

Or let us do it with you

You Now Know What To Do.
Fast-Track Is Who Does It.

Everything in this guide works. Emailing the councils, waiting for a lead, evidencing the empty period, pricing the refurb, running the numbers, managing the trades, getting it let and refinanced. It also takes months, and every stage is a place to get it wrong.

Here is the honest bit. Most people who download a guide like this never send the emails. Of those who do, most stall at the first deal, because analysing it properly, pricing a refurb accurately and managing a build from a distance are three separate skills nobody has on day one. Fast-Track exists because I got tired of watching good people give up two steps from the finish line.

Source

We find the deal and stack the numbers before a penny moves

Purchase

Offer, negotiation, solicitors and finance, handled

Refurb

Our trades, our scope of works, our prices, project managed

Tenancy

Let and managed, including the social housing route

Refinance

Revalued and refinanced, so your capital comes back out

Doing it alone

Months of emails before a single lead

Guessing the refurb cost, then finding out

Chasing builders you have never met

Hoping the valuation lands where you need it

One mistake wipes out the margin

With Fast-Track

A deal sourced and stacked for you

Refurb priced from real trade rates, not guesswork

Our own trades, on our own contracts

Valuation packs built to support the refinance

Every stage contracted, so you know what happens next

Who this is for

People with capital ready and time short. Business owners, professionals, athletes, anyone who wants a property portfolio built properly in the North of England without leaving their day job to do it. If you want to learn every skill yourself, JPU is the right route and I would rather you took it. If you want the portfolio without the apprenticeship, this is Fast-Track.

See How Fast-Track Works

jamesproperty.io/fast-track

We take on a limited number of Fast-Track clients at a time, because every one of them gets our own sourcing team, our own trades and our own management. When the slots are full, they are full.

This pack is for education only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Council schemes open and close with funding and their terms change, so always confirm a scheme is live on the council's own website before relying on it. VAT reliefs carry detailed conditions under HMRC VAT Notice 708 and individual circumstances vary, so confirm your project qualifies with a qualified accountant or VAT specialist before committing. Contact details were taken from each council's own website and were correct at the time of research in July 2026. Figures cited are from Action on Empty Homes (October 2025 data), the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, and Propertymark's 2026 research across 226 local authorities.