EDMOs scheme to reclaim 697,055
barren properties!
Wednesday 25th March 2009
In a bid to increase property availability and shorten the social housing list, the UK Housing Minister has called upon local councils to track down property owners who have left their properties vacant.*
*Please note this applies to primary properties, not rental properties
To date there are currently 697,055 empty properties across the UK that are just sitting there doing nothing – 293,728 of which have been abandoned for over 6 months.
In this new scheme though, councils will have the power to use EDMOs (empty dwelling management orders) that will allow them to seize, renovate and rent out these said properties for a period of 7 years.
At no time at all during this period will original owners have the power to control how their properties are used. Only once the 7 years are over, will they be able to reclaim them.
The only restriction councils will find in this system is that they must wait until the property has been left unoccupied for 6 months before they take it into possession. A time limit that should not prove to be a problem considering that there are already 293,728 properties which fit into this category.
What are they waiting for ?
Since EDMO’s introduction in 2006, this scheme has only been used 17 times and part of this reason is due to cost.
When researching, tracking and contacting leads is all added together, the cost of hiring a tracing agent to find a property owner can become costly. For this reason many councils choose to either overlook this new scheme (leaving properties barren of activity) or use simpler methods.
How do tracing agents work?
To effectively track down a previous owner, any of the following methods can be incorporated:
- Accessing public databases
- Contacting third parties (neighbours and relatives)
- Local advertisements in newspapers
- Land Registry and forensic examination of paperwork
- Telephone tracing
- Tracing agent
Due to the cost of using a tracing agent the Minister has declared that it should only be used as a last resort. But as their study proves, if councils were to incorporate this scheme into their plan they could easily introduce over 290,000 properties back onto the market. A scheme that would well be worth the investment.
Interested in learning more about how property investment can help support the economy and the housing market?
Why not come along to the 2 hour taster session to find out more.
Click here to book your free Property Mentor Taster Session
or