What to do with an empty property after someone dies

The first two weeks

Almost everything that goes wrong with an inherited property goes wrong in the first month, while nobody has been told the house is empty.

Tell the insurer straight away. Most home policies restrict or withdraw cover after 30 to 60 days unoccupied, and many require the water to be drained or the heating held at a minimum temperature over winter. Unoccupied property insurance costs more than a normal policy, and it is still far cheaper than an uninsured escape of water. If the insurer will not continue the existing policy, a specialist unoccupied insurer will.

Then work through the basics:

• Change or add a lock if keys are unaccounted for, and keep a list of who holds one
• Redirect the post, or at minimum have someone clear it weekly so the house does not look empty
• Take meter readings and tell the energy and water suppliers the property is unoccupied
• Leave the heating on a low frost setting through winter rather than switching it off
• Tell the council the date of death so the Class F exemption starts
• Photograph each room before anything is moved, for the estate records and for insurance
• Check the loft, the garage and the shed before booking a clearance

Council tax on an empty home

In England and Wales the home is exempt from council tax under Class F while the estate waits for the grant of probate, however long that takes. The exemption continues for six months after the grant is issued. Scotland gives a broadly equivalent exemption while the estate waits for confirmation.

After that grace period ends, the estate pays the full bill. And once the home has been empty and substantially unfurnished for a year, most councils add an empty homes premium on top:

• England: up to 100% extra after one year, 200% after five years, 300% after ten
• Wales: councils may charge up to 300% extra, and several already do
• Scotland: councils may double the charge after twelve months
• Northern Ireland: domestic rates apply, with a rate relief scheme rather than a premium

Why the premium matters more than people expect

A band D home in England carries a bill of roughly £2,300 a year. With a 100% premium that becomes £4,600, payable by the estate, and it lands exactly when the property is sitting unsold. On a slow sale that single line can be worth more than the difference between two estate agents.

Councils have discretion. If the property is genuinely on the market, or work is under way to make it saleable, write to the council with evidence: the agent's listing, the builder's schedule, the probate application reference. Many will delay or reduce the premium. It is a letter, not a form, and it is worth writing.

Tax when you sell

There is no capital gains tax on the value the property had at the date of death. That value, the probate value, becomes the new base cost. Tax applies only to the rise between that date and the sale, less selling costs.

The estate gets a £3,000 annual exempt amount and pays 24% on residential gains, and it only keeps that allowance for the tax year of death and the two tax years after. Where several people will inherit, transferring the property to the beneficiaries before the sale often costs far less overall, because each beneficiary then has their own allowance and their own rate.

The other side of the same coin: if the property sells for less than the probate value within four years and the estate paid inheritance tax, you can claim loss on sale relief on form IHT38 and recover tax on the difference. That is why the probate value has to be defensible rather than optimistic. Use three agent valuations, or a RICS valuation where the estate is near the inheritance tax threshold.

The options, side by side

There are more than two. Which one is right depends far more on how quickly the family needs the money than on the property itself.

• Open market sale: the highest price, typically four to six months from listing to money in the bank, agent fees around 1.4% plus VAT
• Auction: a binding sale on a fixed date, usually six to twelve weeks, at roughly 10 to 15% below open market, fees around 2.5%
• Cash buying company: seven to twenty eight days, at roughly 75 to 85% of market value, with legal costs often covered
• Let it: keeps the asset and produces income, but needs a licence in some areas, a safety certificate regime, and turns the executors into landlords
• Transfer it to a beneficiary: no sale costs, and each beneficiary uses their own capital gains allowance if they later sell
• Keep it as it is: almost always the most expensive choice once council tax, insurance and upkeep are counted

Ways to get more for it, or get it sold sooner

None of these are tricks. They are the things experienced executors do and first-time executors find out too late.

• Apply for probate before you market, not after. Buyers walk when a completion date keeps moving, and an agreed sale that waits four months for a grant often falls through
• Get three valuations and read the reasoning, not just the number. The highest figure is usually the agent buying your instruction
• Clear the house before the photographs. Empty rooms photograph larger, and a cleared home reads as a straightforward purchase rather than a family situation
• Fix only what a survey will find: damp, leaks, broken glazing, a dangerous consumer unit. Leave the kitchen and bathroom alone
• List in late winter or spring. Homes listed between February and May consistently sell faster and closer to asking
• Sort the title early. Check the Land Registry entries, find the deeds for anything unregistered, and resolve any missing right of way or indemnity issue while you wait for the grant
• Use a modern method of auction if you need a date but not a discount. The buyer pays a reservation fee and you get a fixed timetable
• Tell the agent it is a probate sale. It manages buyer expectations rather than weakening your position, and it filters out chains that cannot wait

Quick refreshes and what they are worth

Rough costs for a typical three bedroom home, and what each one actually buys you.

• Full clearance and deep clean, £600 to £1,500: the single biggest change to how the home shows
• Garden and kerb appeal tidy, £250 to £500: it is the first photograph and the first impression
• Neutral repaint of the main rooms, £1,200 to £2,500: usually returns two to three times the spend on a tired but sound home
• New carpets or sanded floors, £1,200 to £2,200: removes the strongest reminder of decades of occupation
• Damp, leak and glazing repairs, £500 to £2,500: not doing this invites a retention and a renegotiation after the survey
• New light fittings and bright bulbs, £150 to £400: the cheapest win on the list, because light is what sells photographs
• New kitchen or bathroom, £6,000 to £12,000: rarely pays back on a probate sale, because buyers discount for a kitchen they intend to replace

What it costs to hold, month by month

A worked example for a band C semi in the Midlands, empty for fourteen months with probate granted:

• Council tax with the 100% premium: about £340 a month
• Unoccupied property insurance: about £50 a month
• Gas, electricity and water standing charges: about £50 a month
• Garden and basic upkeep: about £65 a month
• Total: roughly £505 a month, or £6,000 a year, before a single repair

Scotland and Northern Ireland

In Scotland the estate needs confirmation rather than probate, and property is dealt with under the same application. Council tax exemption applies while the estate is being wound up, and councils may double the charge after twelve months empty. Sales use the Scottish system: a Home Report is required before marketing, offers are made through solicitors, and missives are binding once concluded.

In Northern Ireland domestic rates apply rather than council tax, and Land and Property Services handles both the valuation and the rate account. Grants of probate are issued by the Probate Office in Belfast.

The order to do it in

If you do nothing else, do these five in this order:

• Insure it properly as unoccupied, this week
• Tell the council and claim the Class F exemption
• Get three valuations and settle a defensible probate value
• Apply for probate or confirmation before you market
• Clear, refresh lightly, then sell through whichever route matches your timescale