About the fund
The Empty Homes Challenge Fund provides financial support to help bring privately owned empty properties back into use.
The aim is to increase the supply of housing by supporting owners to make empty homes safe, secure and suitable for living in.
Applicants can apply for a fund of a maximum of £25,000 (£30,000 for rural areas) to support what works are required to make a property safe, habitable and ready for occupation.
Why bring your home back into use
Bringing an empty home back into use can:
- help meet local housing demand
- improve communities
- prevent properties from falling into further disrepair
What the fund can be used for:
The fund can support works needed to make a property safe, habitable and ready for occupation.
This may include:
Essential repairs
- Addressing damp, water ingress or structural issues
- Repairing walls, ceilings or floors
- Basic electrical or heating works required to make the property safe
Bringing properties back into a lettable condition
- Internal decoration where the property is in poor condition
- Repairs following long-term vacancy
- Making the property suitable for tenants or occupation
Clearance and preparation
- House clearance works (for example, where a property has been inherited or heavily cluttered)
- Removal of items preventing the property from being used
- Preparation works before renovation
Minor accessibility or adaptation works
- Works which support occupation (for example, basic accessibility improvements such as ramps), where appropriate
What is not covered
The fund is not intended for:
- general home improvements not required to bring the property back into use
- cosmetic upgrades where the property is already habitable
- works already completed before approval
- new build or extension works