Council Tax on empty homes
If you own an empty property, you might be eligible for a discount or be exempt from paying Council Tax. Visit our empty or second homes page for more information.
Renovations on empty homes
Builders can give a reduced VAT charge of five percent for renovation works on properties empty for longer than three years. As an owner of an empty home, you could be eligible for this reduced rate if your long term empty home needs renovation works.
Developers or homeowners can claim back all VAT charged on building renovations of properties empty for 10 or more years. To claim the VAT:
- developers must be VAT registered and sell the empty house
- homeowners can claim under the DIY Builders Refund Scheme if you're keeping the property for private residential use and do not intend on selling the property.
Buy an empty home
If you're interested in buying an empty property in the Bury area, you can join our Empty Properties Investors list by submitting an online request.
Selling or renting an empty home
If you want to sell your empty property, you can contact us for a list of investors who are interested in purchasing empty properties in the Bury area.
The Council may be able to purchase your empty property from you. You can submit an online initial enquiry to us and we will assess your application.
If you are interested in renting out your empty property, please visit our landlords section.
Empty Property Questionnaire
This Questionnaire has been created for anybody who owns an empty property within the Bury borough as a way of updating the Council about the status of your home and to rectify any discrepancies we may have on record.
This will also allow you the opportunity to find out about what Bury Council can do to help bring your empty property back into use and the schemes we have available.
If you have been directed to this page by the Empty properties team, our records show that you are the owner of an empty property and you may have been asked to complete the Empty Property questionnaire, you can do this by clicking the button below.
If your property is not empty and our records are incorrect, please continue to fill out the questionnaire as this will allow you to update us.
If you are not the owner of an empty property but wish to report an empty property to us, please visit the report an empty property page.