An investigation to establish whether property maintenance can diminish the number of empty commercial buildings in Sheffield and Leeds

Property maintenance has long been considered an undesirable and overlooked area amongst the construction and property industries; however, a large proportion of construction output comes from such maintenance works. Empty commercial property is an emotive and challenging area, which has been made more topical due to the implementation of the Rating (Empty Property) Act 2007 placing further financial liability on owners with the aim of „incentivising‟ them either to develop, re-let or sell their vacant buildings. As such, the level of property maintenance is important to allow the building to be at a lettable or saleable standard, which in turn should allow the number of unused commercial buildings in the United Kingdom (UK) to reduce. A mixture of primary and secondary sources were utilised to fulfil this research to determine whether incentives exist or can exist to increase the level of property maintenance to diminish the number of vacant commercial buildings in Leeds and Sheffield. The primary data was based on six case studies, four example cases in point and two interviews. Ratings were assigned according to factors and incentives to analyse the data to assist in the findings of this research. This change in Government policy is causing outrage amongst UK businesses and professional bodies of the property industry, in extreme cases leading to the demolition of the building to avoid liability and other detrimental consequences, such as staff reductions to make up for the liability. It has come also alongside the worst recession of recent times.