Mr S, an owner of a one-bedroom home in south Leeds, got in touch with us. He moved to France for work 12 years ago – having initially planned to be away for just six months. By his own admission, he had got to a stage where he just couldn’t face dealing with all the practicalities of sorting the house out – and he was struggling to find time to get back to Leeds. In the meantime, the house was falling into disrepair, and it was costing him money, including 150% council tax as it had been empty over two years.

After an initial conversation on Skype, we emailed a detailed Empty Homes Doctor report which outlined a range of options. Mr S decided that he wanted to sell the property so we invited local estate agents and auctioneers to offer their appraisals.

Given that the home was in a poor state of repair – but in a sought-after location in south Leeds – it was clear that the home was best suited to sale by auction. We arranged for all the paperwork to be dealt with – by liaising with the owner’s family who live in Leeds. We also held keys so we could arrange for photographs and for the auctioneers to do viewings.

"Thank you for all your help and for holding my and my family’s hand throughout the process, I could not have done it without you especially from all the way down here in France.

It really has been simplicity itself, if I’d have known about Leeds Empties earlier I could have saved myself many sleepless nights!”

The house sold with Auction House three months later at well over the guide price. Because of our relationships with local businesses, we were able to negotiate discounted auction fees, and discounted conveyancing.

After 12 years empty, the house was sold within 4 months of Mr S getting in touch with us.