What’s the best way to spot empty property development opportunities?

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Posted on 27 June 2025

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This guide outlines some proven methods for identifying vacant buildings with development potential, from on-the-ground searching to using digital tools and community insights.

 

There are vacant buildings populating our towns and cities, just waiting for someone with vision to transform them.

 

For developers, investors and property professionals, those buildings will represent untapped potential. They will for you too, providing you can find them before your competitors do.

 

With approximately 265,000 long-term empty homes and 165,000 vacant commercial properties across the UK, those development opportunities are out there. The challenge lies in spotting them.

 

This guide explores some practical methods for finding vacant properties with real development potential. Whether you’re an experienced developer, an architect seeking a new project, or an investor looking for your next opportunity, our recommended approaches will help you identify the empty properties worth pursuing.

Start with your target area

 

Becoming a successful empty property hunter is all about focus. Rather than casting your net too widely, concentrate on those areas where you understand the market dynamics and the local planning policies that might shape what’s possible.

 

Some councils actively encourage the conversion of empty buildings by relaxing their planning or permitted development rules. Others have stricter controls. Understanding these local nuances can save you the time and hassle of chasing unfeasible projects.

 

Look for regeneration zones and growth corridors. These areas often contain clusters of empty properties awaiting transformation. New transport links, planned infrastructure improvements, or major employment sites can all affect demand.

 

Check your local authority’s development plans. Most councils publish strategic documents outlining their vision for different areas. These reveal where they want growth, the types of development they’ll support, and which empty buildings might align with their objectives.

 

Building relationships with local planning officers can pay dividends. While they can’t give you preferential treatment, they may be able to provide information to help you understand the local planning priorities, or areas where they want to see empty properties brought back into use.

 

Researching the location you’re interested in to understand the local context will also give you a competitive edge. That empty warehouse might look worthless to your competitors. But if you know the council has just designated the surrounding area for residential development, it might suddenly become a lucrative development opportunity.

 

On-the-ground property hunting

 

·       Nothing beats seeing vacant properties with your own eyes. Regular walks or drives through your target areas often reveal opportunities that you might not find online or in an estate agent’s window.

 

·       Boarded-up windows and doors are the most obvious signs of an empty property, but there are some subtler visual clues, too. Look for overgrown gardens, deteriorating shopfront signs or fascia boards, missing roof tiles or loose-hanging gutters.

 

·       Estate agent boards covered in grime usually mean they’ve been there for months. Multiple boards from different agents mean the vendor has dropped the price several times without success.

 

·       Head out early morning or evening to see which buildings are still dark. Commercial properties should be busy. If they’re not, they’re probably empty.

 

·       Talk to people who work nearby. Most people are happy to chat about problem properties in their area, especially if you’re planning to improve them.

 

·       Use Google Street View to see how properties looked in previous years. You can sometimes spot when a building started to deteriorate, when it first went up for sale, or how long it’s been boarded up. Properties that have slowly declined over several years often have owners who are ready to sell for a reasonable price.

 

Digital research tools and databases

 

·       Online tools can help back up what you find on the ground. While they can’t replace walking the streets, they can help you verify information and identify patterns.

 

·       Council tax databases show which homes might be empty. Look for properties with exemptions or whose owners are paying reduced rates. Councils can’t give out personal details, but many of them publish statistics showing concentrations of empty houses.

 

·       Check business rates records for commercial vacancies. Most councils list the properties that are subject to empty building relief claims or exemptions. Match these against the vacant buildings you’ve already found.

 

·       Once you have your target property, spend £7 on a Land Registry search. You’ll get the owner’s name and their registered address. If it’s owned by a company, search Companies House for free to find the directors and contact details.

 

·       Look up planning histories on council websites. You’ll see if anyone has tried to develop the property before. Failed applications will tell you what didn’t work. Approved plans that failed to progress suggest owners who have lost momentum and might be willing to sell.

 

·       While some councils publish empty property registers, the information tends to be patchy and out of date. They’re worth checking, but don’t rely on them.

·       Monitor property auction sites. The same buildings often appear repeatedly. After failing to sell at auction a few times, the owners will usually be more flexible on price.

 

·       Keep an eye on local Facebook groups and community forums. People will often post photographs of derelict buildings, complain about eyesores in their communities, and share local knowledge. Their shared frustrations can point you towards opportunities.

 

The Land Attic advantage

 

Finding empty properties the traditional way can involve hours of driving around, online searches and competing with everyone else doing exactly the same thing.

 

Land Attic works differently. We have thousands of Land Heroes across the country spotting vacant properties every day. They’re locals who know their areas and notice when buildings become empty,  often months before agents or councils have caught up. We verify every empty property we’re notified about before we add it to our database. All you need to do is set your search criteria: location, size, type of building, and we’ll email you relevant matches as soon as they appear. No more scrolling through irrelevant listings or missing out while you’re asleep.

 

It costs £30 a month. That’s less than you’d spend on petrol driving around looking for empty buildings. You’ll see opportunities weeks before they hit the open market and that head start could make all the difference.

 

Getting started takes just five minutes. Just tell us what you’re looking for, and you’ll get your first matches straight away.

 

So, register with Land Attic now to start receiving empty property opportunities directly to your inbox.

 

Join thousands of developers, investors and property professionals across the UK, who are already transforming vacant buildings into valuable assets. Because the best opportunities go to whoever finds them first. 

Click here to sign up.

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