Apply for a grant to bring your empty property into a rentable condition

Find out if you are eligible for a grant to bring your empty property back into use.

What you can use the grant for

We offer empty property grants to help bring empty homes back into use and increase the supply of safe, warm and decent housing accommodation in the private rented sector. You can use the grant to:

bring your property up to the decent homes standard for renting out
convert your property into self-contained flats or maisonettes.

Eligibility

Which properties qualify

You can apply for a grant if your property:

has been empty for at least six months
is intended for occupation as a single family house or as self-contained flats or maisonettes with no shared facilities.

We will only consider studio flats if the structure and layout of the property means a studio flat is the only option.

Your proposal needs to get support from our housing grants manager and empty homes officer. They will consider:

the location of your property
access arrangements
the internal layout.

Who can apply

To apply for the grant, you must:

be the owner of the property
be a member of the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS) or a recognised landlord association
intend to rent the property out to someone who is not a member of your family.

To find out more about which landlord associations you can join, call us on 020 8314 6622.

You must also tell us about any previous convictions for criminal activity and any instances of:

not complying to housing standards
harassment
illegal eviction for us to consider.

Decent homes standard

If we give you a grant, you must carry out the necessary work to bring your property up to the decent homes standard.

This means that the property must:

be in a good state of repair
have a reasonably modern kitchen and bathroom
have full gas central heating and a condensing combination boiler, controlled by a room-stat, programmer and thermostatic radiator valves
be well insulated with 270mm loft insulation (if there is a loft) and cavity wall insulation (if there are cavity walls)
achieve an EPC energy rating of at least ‘E’
not pose a serious safety hazard to residents.