Somerset Council is encouraging residents to report empty homes as part of a national initiative.
National Empty Homes Week 2026 runs from 9-15 March.
The awareness week aims to highlight the waste of long-term empty homes, which can become a focus point for anti-social behaviour, crime, littering and other activity which may become a nuisance for neighbouring areas and the community. Vacant homes also attract vermin, can be unsafe and they can also de-value other houses nearby.
Somerset Council works with homeowners to bring empty homes back into use by offering them information, advice and guidance. Partly due to their efforts, in 2025 the number of empty properties in Somerset decreased by 73 properties, from 2,406 in 2024 to 2,333 in 2025.
Councillor Sarah Wakefield, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Adults Services, Housing, and Homelessness, said:
I am glad to see fewer empty properties in Somerset year-on-year, but more progress is needed, and you can help us lower that number even further. If there is a property that you know has been vacant in your local area for six months or longer, please take the time to tell us its address and postcode by using the form on our website.
Grants and loans are available to owners of homes that have been empty for an extended period so that they can undertake essential repairs to bring properties back into use. These funds are made available so that homes can be occupied by the owner or rented out to tenants.
For more information on the grants, and to report an empty property, go to the Council’s website and search ‘Empty Homes’.
