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 purchasing an empty property in the Bury area, you can join our Empty Property Matchmaker Scheme as a buyer here:
Please note, you will need to register a Bury One account to apply to this scheme.
Selling an empty home
If you want to sell your empty home, there are now two ways to do this through Bury Council.
Sell through our Empty Property Matchmaker Scheme – Register a Bury One Account and complete the application to sell form here:
The Council may be interested in purchasing your property, you can apply to sell to the Council directly here:
Help to rent out your empty home
The Council may be able to assist you with renting out your empty home. Please take a look at our Landlord information page for further advice here:
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.