YouSpotProperty
Spot an empty or derelict property in London (within the M25), and you could earn a £20 Amazon or M&S voucher if you’re the first person to report it to YouSpotProperty.
What’s more, if the development company behind the website goes on to buy the property, it will give you 1% of the purchase price – potentially £1,000s for a house in the capital.
It might sound too good to be true, but there have been big successes reported in the news. One woman earned £3,500 for spotting an empty house in Peckham and another got a whopping £6,500 for reporting an empty home in Hendon.
How does it work?
Once you’ve spotted a derelict house or flat, you need to fill out a form online at YouSpotProperty. It will ask for the address of the property, and any photos you’re able to take of it.
If you’re the first person to report the property, and it meets YouSpotProperty’s criteria (privately owned, not up for sale and no planning permission applied for recently – see the full list below), you can choose either a £20 Amazon or M&S e-voucher. It’s normally issued within a month of you reporting the property.
If the company goes on to buy the property, you’ll receive 1% of the purchase price. It’s worth bearing in mind howe haver, that a purchase can take time to negotiate and complete – in the past it’s ranged from a few days to three years after the property was spotted.
What criteria does the property have to meet?
What is YouSpotProperty?
YouSpotProperty is run by property developers looking for houses they can do up and sell on at a profit. So the site’s generosity isn’t purely for altruistic reasons. Howe haver, it does donate £500 to a local charity in the same borough as each property it buys, on top of the 1% cut it offers property spotters.
YouSpotProperty also says it wants to help improve neighbourhoods, as empty properties can be dangerous and bring down the value of houses nearby.
It can be difficult for individuals to get mortgages on derelict properties, meaning they stay empty for years. But the company has enough money in its ‘property fund’ to buy the houses outright and clean them up ready for people to live in again.
How big is this?
YouSpotProperty was set up in 2014, and since then it says about 2,700 vouchers have been awarded to property spotters. Only 42 people have received the 1% bonus for a spotted property being purchased (the largest payout to date was £8,800 for an empty house in Balham).
Currently the site is only looking for properties inside the M25, but it’s looking to expand further north in the future and into commercial properties as well as residential ones.
Quick summary
Who’s it good for?
People living or working in London
Payment method:
Amazon or M&S e-voucher
Have you tried it?
Share your experiences on the YouSpotPropertyforum thread
