Empty property grants

If you own an empty residential property, you may be eligible for a grant from us to refurbish it.

To be eligible, the following must be true:

• the property has been vacant for at least 6 months
• the type of property is in demand for social renting
• you have not been subject to enforcement action as a landlord

The maximum grant we can pay for one housing unit is £25,000. If your property is split into multiple housing units – for example self-contained flats – you can apply for one grant per housing unit.

If your grant application is successful, you will need to sign an agreement with us to let the property to tenants nominated by us (Merton Council) or our partners for a 5-year period.

Grants are awarded at our discretion. The grant amount we offer will be based on our assessment of the total reasonable cost of any qualifying works to bring the property up to a decent condition.

For more information, please contact privatehousing@merton.gov.uk or the Empty Property Officer on 020 8545 4678 or 07917 267 562.

Requests for empty property lists

We do not provide lists of empty properties.

We have an obligation of confidentiality to the tax payers of property within the borough. It would be a breach of confidentiality if we disclosed the full postal addresses of vacant properties. Disclosure might also lead to these properties being damaged by squatters or vandals.

We no longer own any council housing and therefore we do not hold information on any empty council housing in the borough.

If you are interested in a particular property you may find the owners' details by searching the Land Registry website (fees apply). Assistance may also be found via the electoral register and commercial tracing agencies.