Winter is coming – Higher taxes, higher energy bills and proposed new powers over empty homes

In less than two weeks, the clocks go back. Shorter days, longer nights and falling temperatures mean more energy use, adding to the pressure of higher prices.

Many households will be affected, but people with empty properties may need to brace themselves harder than most. Owning an additional property puts you in a fortunate position, but even a valuable asset can put pressure on your cash flow if it sits empty, generating bills rather than income.

An empty building, especially in winter and when there is a shortage of affordable property for rent, can quickly turn an asset into a liability and an investment into a headache.

As well as higher energy bills to prevent damage to empty property, you may need to continue mortgage repayments for a house you’re not living in, pay more council tax due to empty-home council tax premiums where applicable, buy additional insurances, and face additional costs linked to maintaining the property and preventing squatting or vandalism.

Recent analysis of Ministry of Justice figures shows that 51 people were prosecuted for residential squatting in England and Wales in the year to March 2026, compared with 26 the previous year.

Blocked gutters, small roof leaks and ineffective ventilation can also become much more serious during prolonged wet or cold weather. Because nobody is living in the property, damage may remain unnoticed until it becomes expensive to repair—or until it is discovered by a buyer’s surveyor.

Insurance policies may impose additional conditions once a property has been vacant for a specified period, such as regular inspections, drained water systems or minimum heating requirements.

Turning off the heating may save money in the short term, but it can leave a property vulnerable to condensation, damp, mould and frozen pipes.

Winter therefore creates an uncomfortable choice: spend more protecting a property that produces no income, or cut costs and risk a problem that could reduce its value or derail a sale.

Stop waiting. Start planning

Landlord Sales Agency helps landlords replace an expensive empty property with a fast, structured and more reliable sale.

Whether your property is empty because tenants have left, a sale has stalled, no offers have come in, repairs are needed, you have inherited it or moved elsewhere, you do not have to resolve everything before starting the sales process. We can find a buyer while you tackle the outstanding issues, then coordinate completion for when the property is ready—keeping the time it stands empty, and the costs that come with it, to a minimum.

We have a database of over 30,000 buyers including cash buyers, developers, builders and experienced landlords as well as chain free owner occupiers.

Buyers must pay a non-refundable deposit under the terms of their purchase agreement as soon as an offer is accepted, and they must be able to complete within 56 days once the seller is ready to complete. That gives buyers a financial commitment from the outset, helping protect sellers against buyers pulling out and reducing the uncertainty of waiting months for contracts to be exchanged.

Our team proactively manages the sale and communicates with the buyer, solicitors and whoever the buyer brings in, including lenders and surveyors. If a problem arises, we work to find a practical way through it instead of simply allowing the sale to drift or collapse.

Sellers pay no estate agency fee or commission, and there are no listing fees to lose if the property does not sell. We can also contribute £720 including VAT towards the seller’s legal costs.

Turn an empty property into released equity

An empty former HMO in Liverpool shows why you do not have to take on another round of expensive improvements before selling. The owner had decided against re-letting because of the spending required, and a previous attempt to sell through a local agent had not delivered the result he wanted.

We found a buyer in less than a week of launching the property, with a £5,000 deposit paid to secure the sale. But finding the buyer was only part of the job. When surveys highlighted potential structural concerns and damp, our team coordinated access for the buyer’s specialists, kept in contact with his finance broker and helped negotiate a revised price acceptable to both sides—giving the sale a practical way forward.

Alongside this, we chased both solicitors for outstanding enquiries and replies, pursued lender-approved search indemnity to avoid waiting for conventional searches, and arranged an updated gas safety certificate as completion approached. The sale completed just over 13 weeks after the buyer’s deposit was paid, with the seller receiving £136,500, no estate agency fees and a £720 contribution towards legal costs.

He received £136,500, approximately 83% of his own estimated £165,000 valuation, rather than committing more money to improvements and continuing to pay for an empty property while waiting for a buyer.

An empty property that had become a spending commitment was finally turned into released equity.

A concurrent approach. A faster completion

Whether your property has already been empty for months and you want a fast sale to stop the spending and release your equity, or you want to secure a buyer while other arrangements are underway, talk to Landlord Sales Agency. The key is to move things forward together, so you can complete as soon as everything is ready.

Perhaps your rental property is already for sale but has attracted no offers, or the two-percentage-point rise in property income tax rates from April 2027 has strengthened your decision to sell. Or you want to find a buyer before deciding whether vacant possession is needed, rather than giving tenants notice and risking a prolonged void if the sale does not go to plan. If you have inherited a property, we can secure a buyer during probate and progress the sale while you wait for the grant.

Or perhaps news of plans to give councils greater powers to take over the management of long-term empty homes has prompted you to think about your property’s future.

Whatever your circumstances, we will help you find a practical route to a sale that releases your equity and brings the ongoing costs and responsibilities of an empty property to an end—while fitting around any repairs, probate or other arrangements still to be completed.

We will work around your plans, coordinate the outstanding steps and keep the sale moving alongside them. You do not have to wait for one job to finish before starting the next.

Complete the form and tell us a little about your property. We will explain the likely price, timescale and cost of using our service so you can compare a secure sale with the real cost of continuing to wait.