Possible abandoned house - not sure what (if anything!) to do

mel19632

opps sorry its

http://www.everyhomecounts.info/

at the moment its just for 8 boroughs in the south east,
Elmbridge Borough Council
Guildford Borough Council
Hart District Council
Runnymede Borough Council
Rushmoor District Council
Spelthorne Borough Council
Waverley Borough Council
Woking Borough Council

mel19632

Otherwise, there is this website as well

http://reportemptyhomes.com/

poppysarah

What you can do is get in touch with the local police community support officer - ring your local police station and ask for them. They're very good at chasing up this sort of thing - ours got a windows on a landlord's empty property shut and encouraged them to hurry up and find tenants.

They're good people to be in touch with too for reporting odds and ends of stuff that goes on. Like dodgy cars - write the number down and let them know if it's been lurking etc etc.

Ours is lovely and I must write her a card tonight!

If you're serially nosey then find out about homewatch - you get shedloads of gossip through them.

TJ27

My council has a list of empty homes. In the past the list has been freely available to whoever wants it.

Councils have powers to CP houses which have been empty for long periods and bring them back into occupation. Basically the council compulsory purchases them, puts them up for auction, then passes the money to the old owner. It's a bit of a long process though, so if the owner is able to do a deal with somebody before the CP happens, great.

littlemissmoney

mel19632 wrote: »

Otherwise, there is this website as well

http://reportemptyhomes.com/

I'm not sure it's very clever for a website to list the addresses of empty houses! Surely that site is a squatters dream??

GDB2222

littlemissmoney wrote: »

I'm not sure it's very clever for a website to list the addresses of empty houses! Surely that site is a squatters dream??

I think that's intentional. They want to get these houses back into habitation, either by squatting or by pressurising house owners.

Entertainer

!!!!!!, there are thousands of properties across the country which are empty for years for many different reasons.

Unless you are thinking of buying the property, in which case, contact the Land Registry and find out who owns it, then leave well alone. Frankly, what is it to do with you? The Police? You think they are interested? They can't even manage to investigate crime half the time.

We haven't come to such an authoritarian state where it is no longer legal to have a property unoccupied.

poppy_f1

house round the corner from us has been empty for years
we eventually got the story, the old lady had died, and the executor of her will didnt manage to track down the old ladys daughter
something must have been done recently as work has started on the house, being emptied and done up

Darth_Marty

Entertainer wrote: »

!!!!!!, there are thousands of properties across the country which are empty for years for many different reasons.

Unless you are thinking of buying the property, in which case, contact the Land Registry and find out who owns it, then leave well alone. Frankly, what is it to do with you? The Police? You think they are interested? They can't even manage to investigate crime half the time.

We haven't come to such an authoritarian state where it is no longer legal to have a property unoccupied.

What an un-necessarily harsh reply.

I bet you are the type of guy who would walk past a mugging or incident "because its none of my business"

At least this lady has taken an interest in her community and is willing to do something about it, and whos to say some poor old person hasnt died in there?

I suggest a calmer tone to your posts in future or it could be you whos old and with no friends to check their wellbeing!!

KellsBells

Darth_Marty wrote: »

What an un-necessarily harsh reply.

I bet you are the type of guy who would walk past a mugging or incident "because its none of my business"

At least this lady has taken an interest in her community and is willing to do something about it, and whos to say some poor old person hasnt died in there?

I suggest a calmer tone to your posts in future or it could be you whos old and with no friends to check their wellbeing!!

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T
Here here.

Mel, good for you.
Slightly sad story - My dad sadly passed away this time last year, he was alone in his flat and didn't answer the phone or door for a few days (which was not unusual for him, he would just ignore callers if he was busy or didn't want to see people). The Police eventually agreed to break in on 22nd of Dec, and found him dead on his bedroom floor - he had been there a few days they decided. Can't help but wonder if a nosy (you say nosy, I say concerned) neighbour had bothered earlier, might he have been found in time.......??