An empty property will cost you money in council tax, bills, insurance fees and paying to repair damage and deterioration.
We can help you turn a financial burden into an asset.
Rent out or sell your empty property
Rent out your property
You can get free help from us to rent out your property. This includes finding you tenants and giving rent guarantee insurance for the first year.
See our help with renting out your property page for all our offers.
Repair your empty property
You can get an empty property loan to repair an existing empty residential property so that on completion, it can be rented out or sold on to bring it back into use.
The empty property loan is funded by Bristol City Council and administered by Lendology CIC.
To find out more and apply, email private.housing@bristol.gov.uk
Empty property loan conditions
To get an empty property loan:
- you must have been the owner of the property for at least six months when you apply
- the property must not be your main residence
- the property must have been empty for at least six months
- you must have any required planning permission in place before applying
- you must rent out the property for at least five years years
- you will need to complete a Fit and Proper Person declaration
You can get a maximum loan of £20,000 per self-contained flat and up to a maximum of £60,000 per property.
Interest rate is 4% fixed throughout the term of the loan.
This loan is available on a capital and interest repayment loan over a maximum term of 5 years.
Properties that are to be let on completion must meet minimum housing standards.
For those where the property is to be sold on completion of the works there is a short term, interest only loan with full capital repayment of the loan within two years of drawdown or on earlier disposal of the property.
We'll give you 50% of the loan when you begin to work on the property and the rest when you finish. Any owners contribution towards the scheme must be paid before the second loan is released.
Loan terms and conditions are on the pdf Financial Assistance Schedule (567 KB) .
If you take out an empty property loan we will register a District Land Charge. This means if you sell the property before paying off the loan we can recover the outstanding balance of the loan from the sale price of the property.
Empty Property Policy
The pdf Empty Property Policy 2022 (366 KB) sets out our current operational approach to dealing with privately owned empty residential properties.