No Use Empty

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As the number of empty properties in the UK is predicted to top one million this year, ITV's Tonight programme investigated the reasons behind why so many homes lie unused when this country faces an acute housing shortage. No Use Empty was on hand to help show what is being done in Kent to tackle the problem.

Empty Properties

An empty property is an asset at risk. Owners of empty property are losing money on an asset which should be providing them with an income stream. In addition to the rapidly depreciating value of an empty property, there is a huge demand for housing in the UK and empty properties are a waste of vital resources. No Use Empty in Kent and nationally, The Empty Homes Agency.

How to rent a room

If you are looking to boost your income through renting a spare room in your home, Direct Gov has information on residential landlord lettings. These differ from other types of tenancies in terms of rent and security of the tenure. For more information about how to rent out your spare room visit www.directgov.co.uk and click on the Homes and Community section.

Auction Houses

If you are looking to boost your income through renting a spare room in your home, Direct Gov has information on residential landlord lettings. These differ from other types of tenancies in terms of rent and security of the tenure. For more information about how to rent out your spare room visit www.directgov.co.uk and click on the Homes and Community section.

Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO)

Under the 2004 Housing Act, local authorities may take out an EDMO on properties which have been lying empty for at least six months. There are two kinds of EDMO - interim and final - which allows local authorities to ensure that empty properties are occupied and managed properly.

Legal Restrictions

It's great to have imaginative plans for redeveloping your property, but if they won't get planning approval or building-control consent, you will need to re-think them. Talk to your local authority sooner rather than later so you don't waste time and money.

Here comes 2009, but will it be a better year for landlords than 2008?

Phil Murray talks to a bunch of experts about their predictions for the property market in 2009, grim but essential viewing for property investors and landlords
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Business Property Rates

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Capital Gains Tax on second homes (UK CGT)

Home alone

As thousands face the repossession of their houses, More4 News discovers new figures show a record number of empty homes, waiting for tenants.

Spanish Ghost Town, Soto del Henares

A summer breeze blows a cloud of dust through the Spanish town of Soto del Henares. Drifting along the empty streets and deserted playgrounds the eerie silence is occasionally broken by the slow creaking of an unused swing.

Like the housing market right now, little is moving in Soto del Henares. Boom has turned to bust and the wider Spanish economy is suffering.

Lying south of Madrid, Soto del Henares was designed as a major urbanisation for professionals who could not afford city prices.

But there are few signs of life at Soto del Henares, now dubbed the Spanish ghost town. The population of this town did not disappear, they simply never arrived. More than 13,500 apartments were built on this area of scrubland. But less than 3,000 have been sold. So far the number of people living in Soto del Henares can be counted in the hundreds.

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