Empty homes: normal rules do not apply to super-rich in London | Society | The Guardian

Empty homes: normal rules do not apply to super-rich in London | Society | The Guardian

 A rundown, empty property in Kensington and Chelsea borough owned by an offshore company. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Hilary Osborne and Kevin Rawlinson

Tue 1 Aug ‘17 16.38 BSTLast modified on Mon 27 Nov ‘17 19.09 GMT

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There is something odd about Kensington and Chelsea. Across England, the number of homes left empty for six months or more fell by more than a third between 2006 and 2016, and in London it was down by a half, but in the west London borough it increased.

Rising house prices and rents, combined with changes to council tax rules, have made it unappealing for most people to keep a property empty. But even the prospect of collecting £10,000 a month from a tenant is not enough to encourage some of the country’s richest owners of empty homes to let people in.