Empty Property Register
Case reference FOI2026/01916
Received 9 August 2026
Published 26 August 2026
Request
I am writing to submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information held by your council.
We are a construction and project management company working with homeowners, investors, and developers, and we are researching empty and long-term vacant properties within your local authority area.
Specifically, I would like to request:
- A list of street addresses of properties currently recorded on your council's empty homes/empty property register, or identified as long-term empty (e.g. via council tax records).
To be clear, I am only requesting the street addresses of the properties. I am not requesting the names, contact details, or any other personal information relating to the owners, as I understand this is protected under data protection legislation.
If it would assist in processing this request, I am happy to receive the information in any electronic format you hold it in (e.g. spreadsheet or CSV).
If any part of this request is unclear, or if you believe an exemption applies to any part of it, I would be grateful if you could contact me to discuss so that I can refine the request accordingly.
Response
I am writing to submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information held by your council.
We are a construction and project management company working with homeowners, investors, and developers, and we are researching empty and long-term vacant properties within your local authority area.
Specifically, I would like to request:
- A list of street addresses of properties currently recorded on your council's empty homes/empty property register, or identified as long-term empty (e.g. via council tax records).
To be clear, I am only requesting the street addresses of the properties. I am not requesting the names, contact details, or any other personal information relating to the owners, as I understand this is protected under data protection legislation.
If it would assist in processing this request, I am happy to receive the information in any electronic format you hold it in (e.g. spreadsheet or CSV).
If any part of this request is unclear, or if you believe an exemption applies to any part of it, I would be grateful if you could contact me to discuss so that I can refine the request accordingly.
Answer: We consider this information to be exempt under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information if it would, or would be likely, to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Empty properties are at risk of break in / burglary / trespass. I therefore consider that in this instance Section 31 of the Act is engaged.
In reaching this decision I have taken into account the Information Commissioner's guidance on this section and the Information Tribunal's decision in Mr C P England and the London Borough of Bexley v the Information Commissioner (EA/2006/066; 066, 10 May 2007) in which the Tribunal was 'satisfied that Section 31 (1) (a) is appropriate to information, even if the purpose of the collation of the information was not the prevention of crime per se'.
This particular exemption is subject to the public interest test, and accordingly I have taken the following factors into consideration:
The public interest in disclosure:
Disclosing details of empty properties could potentially assist in returning those properties to use if interested tenants were able to use the information to easily identify potential business premises in Herefordshire.
Promotion of the reuse of empty commercial properties could bring significant economic benefits to Herefordshire and in turn the Marches region, by improving opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs, particularly in the current political and economic climate.
The public interest in non-disclosure:
The arguments against release put forward by other local authorities who have received requests similar to this one, have highlighted instances of criminal behaviour being carried out in empty properties, such as squatting, cannabis cultivation, illegal raves, etc. I would agree with the arguments of these councils that releasing details of empty commercial properties into the public domain would be likely to facilitate and encourage criminal activity; providing a list of 'targets' for criminals to focus on. The Information Commissioner also agreed with the arguments set out by Stoke on Trent City Council (FS50538789) who were able to demonstrate a 'real and significant' risk of arson attacks on empty properties in their area.
Crime in Herefordshire is generally low, however, there are issues of rural crime in Herefordshire with 30% of all crime in the county occurring in rural areas. Isolated rural premises may not be widely known to be empty by the fact of their isolation.
Indeed, Herefordshire is extremely rural. It has a population of 187,100 (2021 census), with the 4th lowest population density in England and the population is scattered across the 842 square miles of the county.
There are numerous reports in Herefordshire of break-ins at occupied premises and issues at isolated buildings, such as within farms, which often have a lack of security. In particular there have been instances of burglary, criminal damage and stripping of assets such as metal / copper pipes. Empty properties in Herefordshire have also suffered arson attacks in recent years. There have also been reports of squatters in non-residential properties. Although squatting in commercial premises is not a crime, there are often wider repercussions such as fraud, criminal damage and risk of theft of electricity. Indeed, the Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) provides advice on how to squat in properties, indicating that lists of non-residential properties might be available from local authorities. The Voyias Tribunal states that they were 'provided with sufficient evidence in particular in material published by ASS … to satisfy us that squatters do check available lists of empty properties and that release of such a list by another council in response to an FOI request in the past had led to an increase in squatting'.
Disclosure of a list of empty properties may provide a 'shopping list' for interested parties, some of whom may have negative intentions or intend to squat. As outlined in the Information Commissioner decision notice FS50538789 it is 'clearly logical to argue that the disclosure of a list of empty properties would provide those intent on committing crimes associated with such properties an easy way to identify them'. Similarly a decision notice by the First Tier Tribunal (EA/2018/0033) also concluded that the 'provision of a readymade list makes it easier to commit crime: it enables criminals to avoid the significant effort of researching and compiling the information in relation to each potential target'. Therefore we have concluded that the possibility of crime is real and would be more likely to occur as a result of the information on empty properties being disclosed and subsequently, that public money would be used to detect and prosecute such crimes.
There is a huge difference between empty properties that are visible in city streets and empty properties in rural areas, which are not located in sites visible from streets and highways, which may not be widely known to be empty by the fact of their isolation, and where there are less people able to notice the fact that they are empty.
In extremely rural areas like Herefordshire, it is less likely that opportunistic or organised criminals would happen across a property located in an isolated area, decide to observe it over a period of time to see whether it is empty and therefore a suitable target for criminal activity, compared to empty commercial properties located in city centres, where it is more likely that such a property is visible and potentially identifiable by the high concentration of population that surrounds it each day. If the rural property did have neighbouring, occupied, properties in its vicinity, its occupants would either stand out in such a sparsely populated area, and it is more likely that such activity would either be confronted by residents or reported to the police. However, if the information were available in the form of a list, this would negate the need to drive around rural areas attempting to spot empty properties, or undertaking potentially risky surveillance to see whether the property is occupied or not; with a list the potential criminals could be confident that the property was empty as the information would be recently provided, reducing the need to carry out observations. Therefore we would conclude that publishing a list detailing which commercial properties in the area are currently empty would aid criminals in their endeavours.
The impact of crime can be substantial. Pre-pandemic figures show that rural crime cost Herefordshire more than £1 million. Costs would be incurred by owners for any damage caused to their property or to re-secure their property, and insurance premiums could rise as a result. In the region 39% of rural people fear crime, and the perception of crime could result in anxiety for those with empty properties, particularly if the fact that their property was occupied was made publicly available.
We have previously sought advice from West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire Service following receipt of information requests about empty properties and they have advised that the release of this information would leave properties vulnerable to crime. The council cannot discount the opinion of the police and the fire service, who have significant local knowledge and experience of dealing with these matters. This is especially the case because as outlined in Section 17 of the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, the council must 'do all that it reasonable can to prevent … crime and disorder in its area (including anti-social behaviour) adversely affecting the local environment'.
Although release of the requested information could be beneficial to the local economy, I would advise that the Local Enterprise Partnership's Growth Hub already provides a great deal of free advice and assistance to businesses currently in the area or looking to relocate to the area, including providing a commercial property register of properties available to rent / buy in the area (although it does not necessarily state whether that property is vacant or not).
In view of the real and substantial risk which the release of the information could cause, the rural nature of Herefordshire and the economic assistance already freely available to businesses interested in the area, in this instance the public interest in non-disclosure of the requested information outweighs that in disclosure. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
We also consider details of current empty properties in Herefordshire to be exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information which has been provided in confidence. The property owners provide details of their properties to the council for the purposes of calculating rates or reliefs. There is a general common law principle of tax payer confidentiality, as states in R (Ingenious Media Holdings PLC & another) v Revenue & Customs Commissioners (2016) (UKSC 54) 'where information of a personal or confidential nature is obtained or received in the exercise of a legal power or a furtherance of a public duty, the recipient will in general owe a duty to the person from who it was received or to who it relates not to use it for other purposes'. As such the information requested has the necessary obligation of confidence. There is only a limited public interest in the disclosure of the information, as set out above, and consequently we have concluded that there is insufficient public interest in disclosure to outweigh the importance of the general common law principle of taxpayer confidentiality. Such an argument is supported by the decision of the First Tier Tribunal (EA/2018/0033). Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
The requested details of empty commercial properties owned by individuals is also exempt under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, because we consider that information constitutes those individuals' personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulations. The definition of personal data under the data protection legislation is 'any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person'. This includes individuals who can be directly or indirectly identified from the information. Even if the liable parties' names were withheld from disclosure, they could still be indirectly identified if other details concerning their property were released. Disclosure would not be fair and would constitute an unwarranted loss of privacy for those individuals. Disclosure of this information would provide information on the current standing of these individuals - whether they rent or own a substantial asset which is not being used. Such disclosure would be a general loss of privacy that would not otherwise be expected. The individuals have only provided information to the council on the status of their property for business rates purposes, they have not consented to wider disclosure and have no reasonable expectations that this information would be released into the public domain. Disclosure would cause some distress with regards to an unwarranted loss of privacy and the privacy of these individuals outweighs any legitimate interest in the release of this information. Such an argument is supported by the Information Commissioner in decision notices FR50628943, FS50628978 and FS50685378. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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