Should you possess an empty property and it is not currently up for rent/sale, susceptible to probate resolution or just being employed as a holiday home, you should know about the council’s authority to impose an EDMO. An Empty Dwelling Management Order provides the council with the authority to take over the management of some unoccupied domestic properties, for the purpose of getting people into occupancy and putting empty properties to good use. Ever since July 2006, if the property has been empty in excess of 6 months for any reason not covered by exclusion, the local council can apply to the independent RPTS (Residential Property Tribunal Service) for an EDMO. Due to homes shortages, pertaining to the volume of people on numerous Local Authority (LA) housing waiting lists, local councils tend to be quicker to take this measure than before.

The aim of an EDMO is to boost the available housing stock by taking unoccupied houses back to occupation and though a Local Authority may take on the home’s management, they still do not maintain ownership. Prior to they are capable of getting an interim EDMO, the LA needs to advise the relevant proprietor of their plan to do this and (where possible) ask what steps the current owner is taking to return the empty home to occupancy. One more step they’re required to take is to perform a ‚balancing exercise‘, where the LA will weigh your rights against the welfare of the larger local community. When the application is made, the Local Authority must detail the measures they have completed and ways in which the case was evaluated. The Tribunal must be satisfied that:

a) The house has been completely unoccupied for a minimum of six months

b) That there’s no reasonable prospect that the home will be occupied shortly

c) That if the order is acquired there’s a realistic probability that the house will become occupied

d) The Local Authority has carried out all of the specified measures to notify/discuss the application with the property owner, evaluated the case effectively and (e) satisfied any further ‚prescribed requirements.‘

The exclusions approved by the 2006 Order consist of where the house has been occupied solely or primarily by the relevant owner (yourself) and has become wholly unoccupied simply because you are i) momentarily living elsewhere; ii) you are absent from the home whilst getting treatment/care for illness, infirmity or old age; iii) you are away to provide such care to another person; or iv) because you are a serving member of the military and are away whilst performing a tour of service. There are various other exceptions, including holiday home use (or any other short-term occupational use from time to time), it is used to house your employees when they carry out their contractual tasks, if it is subject to probate along with a small group of other (although more obscure) reasons.

Should your property is currently empty, you need to make sure you have suitable home insurance safeguarding your interests. Should the property remain unoccupied for longer than thirty days, you are likely to have trouble locating an insurance provider willing to cover you. This isn’t the situation with all insurance companies.

A few will supply you with unoccupied house insurance cover regardless of how long the home stands unoccupied for, and they could usually do it with a competitive online quote. Some might also be able to provide you with holiday home insurance for properties which are purchased as a second home.