Scope: England and Wales, with the council tax position differing between them. Verified against the legislation and gov.uk guidance on 10 August 2026.
A void is not simply lost rent. Three liabilities move back onto you the day the tenancy ends, and one of them can suspend a policy you are still paying for.
Council tax
Liability reverts to the owner once the property is unoccupied. The old class C exemption for empty properties was abolished in England in 2013 and replaced by a local discretion: each council sets its own discount, which is frequently zero. Some councils levy an empty homes premium after a property has stood empty long enough — and since April 2024 that premium can begin after twelve months rather than two years.
This is genuinely council-by-council, in the same way licensing is. Check yours rather than assuming a discount exists.
In an HMO the position differs again: liability usually sits with the landlord throughout, which is a running cost rather than a void one — see HMO council tax banding.
Utilities
Standing charges accrue on an empty property whether or not anything is consumed. Take meter readings on the day the tenancy ends and again when the next begins — that pair of readings is what settles a dispute about whose usage was whose, and it is the same discipline as an inventory.
Do not disconnect the supply. Reconnection costs more than the standing charges saved, and an unheated property through winter is the single most common source of a burst pipe claim — which brings us to the part people miss.
Insurance: the unoccupancy clause
Most landlord policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set period, commonly 30 to 60 days. The restriction is usually not a cancellation. It is narrower: escape of water, malicious damage and theft are typically the first covers to fall away, which are precisely the risks an empty property carries.
Policies also commonly impose conditions during a void — heating left on at a minimum temperature through winter, or the water system drained, and regular documented inspections.
Tell the insurer when the void begins. Not after. See what landlord insurance actually covers.
Use the gap
A void is the only time the property is empty and accessible, which makes it the cheapest moment to do the things that are disruptive with a tenant in place: the EICR if it is near its five years, EPC improvements, and anything that would otherwise need access arrangements.
Run the free compliance check to see what is due on the property before the next tenant arrives.