A retired police officer has made almost £3,000 in cash and vouchers by reporting empty houses.
Roy Foulkes, 65, from West Hallam in Derbyshire, noticed his first derelict property while taking a walk through his old beat. He reported it to the local council - but nothing happened. He then discovered a company called YouSpotProperty, which pays people for identifying and reporting long-term empty houses.
Roy said: “I passed a house where I knew an old couple had once lived. And that was fifteen years ago. The house looked untouched and worse for wear with an overgrown garden. I reported it to the council and nothing happened, so I reported it again. Still, no action.”
He added: “About a year or so ago I was scrolling through social media and came across YouSpotProperty which appears to have a community online of spotters. I’m a serial walker, love to be out and about and I’m observant by nature, so the challenge of spotting empty houses is both fun and good for my health.”
Roy Foulkes noticed the derelict property while on a walk through his old beat (Meerkat PR)
The property in Challiston was purchased and later brought back to life (Meerkat PR)YouSpotProperty initially pays a £20 Amazon or M&S voucher when someone correctly identifies an empty home - but if the company is able to buy, refurbish, and sell the property, it rewards 1% of the purchase price to the spotter, up to £10,000. Roy has received 25 vouchers to date and one 1% cash reward. The cash is being spent on his grandchildren, holidays to Disneyland Paris and to the Norwegian Fjords, and household goods.
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Roy said: “I received a call from a London number a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t take the call. True to form, I researched the number first-hand and I saw It was listed as YouSpotProperty. I called them back and they broke the good news that I’d been eligible for ‘1 per cent’ of the purchase price of the house which was £2,350 – I was delighted to say the least!”
He added: “The house, situated in the area of Chellaston, is the kind that would make a wonderful family home if it was up to scratch, it’s a good-sized 1940s era semi-detached property, the sort where Derby’s professionals would have once lived.
“There were so many red flags about its state. The garden was heavily overgrown, the paintwork was flaking and it was clear no one was living there. I took pictures on my camera, reported it to YouSpotSpotProperty, and didn’t think about it again for 18 months.”
Roy Foulkes is a big fan of YouSpotProperty (Meerkat PR)Around 350 to 450 properties are reported to YouSpotProperty on a weekly basis, and the firm hands out 110 vouchers on average each month. In order to be eligible for an award, the property you spot must be privately owned, not up for sale and no planning permission applied for recently. On a typical month, it pays out seven 1% reward fees for homes they eventually buy, before placing them back into use. Over the past 12 months, the company has bought empty and derelict properties ranging in value from £17,000 to £3million.
Research by property lender Together shows there are 1.55million empty homes across England and Wales. YouSpotProperty.com co-founder Nick Kalms said: “There is a huge emphasis on the plight of hundreds of thousand of properties that could otherwise be occupied. However, there are so many reasons these properties become empty, remain that way and degenerate for years after.
“Members of the public may like the idea of buying an abandoned wreck to renovate, but mortgage providers in the main are reluctant to lend for such projects. This is where we’ve stepped in and over the years we’re proud to have brought hundreds of former abandoned houses back into use and have shared the rewards with the public along the way.”
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