A one-month void on a £1,200-a-month Brighton flat isn’t a £1,200 problem. Once you add council tax, standing charges, and the insurance conditions that kick in once a property sits empty, the real number is usually closer to £1,400 or more, and that’s before accounting for the cost of getting it re-let.
Landlords tend to think about a void period as lost rent and stop there. That’s the biggest line item, but it’s not the only one, and the ones that get missed are the ones that catch people out later, usually as a lapsed insurance claim or an unexpected council tax bill.
The obvious cost: rent you don’t collect
Every day a property sits empty is a day of rent gone for good — it doesn’t get made up later, whatever the new tenant ends up paying. On a £1,200-a-month Brighton flat, a single month’s void is £1,200 straight off the year’s income, roughly 8% of what the property should have earned that year.
- £1,200Lost rent, one month void, typical one-bed flat
- 8%Of annual rental income, one month empty
That’s before any of the costs below, which is where the real total starts to add up.
Council tax doesn’t stop because there’s no tenant
An empty property in Brighton & Hove is still liable for full council tax, whether it’s furnished or not. There’s no automatic discount for a short void while you’re between tenants.
Leave a property empty too long and the council tax gets worse, not better. Brighton & Hove charges a premium on top of the standard rate once a property has been unfurnished and empty for an extended period: 100% extra once it’s been empty for 1–5 years, rising to 200% extra at 5–10 years and 300% extra beyond that. A short void between tenancies won’t trigger this, but it’s a real cost if a property sits empty far longer than planned.
For an ordinary one to two-month void, the council tax itself is the standard rate, paid in full, with no tenant contributing toward it. On a typical Brighton property that’s a further £150–£200 a month straight out of the landlord’s pocket.
Standing charges keep running
Gas, electricity, water standing charges, and broadband if it’s still connected, all keep accruing whether or not anyone’s living there. None of these are large individually, but a vacant property with the utilities left connected can easily add another £50–£80 a month on top of the council tax.
The insurance condition landlords miss
This is the one that causes the most damage when it’s overlooked. Most standard landlord insurance policies restrict cover once a property has been empty for a set number of consecutive days, typically 30, 45 or 60 depending on the policy. Past that point, cover often narrows to fire, lightning, and explosion only — water damage, theft, and vandalism claims can be refused entirely.
The point: failing to tell your insurer a property has become void can invalidate a claim outright, even one that has nothing to do with the property being empty. Check your policy’s specific vacancy threshold and notify the insurer as soon as a tenancy ends, not after something’s gone wrong.
If a void looks likely to run past your policy’s threshold, specialist unoccupied property cover is available, typically £20–£60 a month for an ordinary residential property. It’s a real cost, but a far smaller one than a declined claim on a burst pipe or a break-in during an uninsured gap.
What a month’s void actually adds up to
| Cost | Typical monthly figure |
|---|---|
| Lost rent | £1,200 (one-bed flat, city average) |
| Council tax, no tenant contributing | £150–£200 |
| Standing charges (utilities, broadband) | £50–£80 |
| Unoccupied property insurance, if needed | £20–£60 |
| Total | £1,420–£1,540 |
That’s roughly 20% more than the rent figure alone suggests, and it’s before factoring in cleaning, redecoration, or marketing costs to get the property back on the market.
What actually shortens a void
- Start marketing before the current tenancy ends. Under the Renters’ Rights Act, tenants can give two months’ notice at any point, which is enough lead time to have viewings arranged before the property is even empty.
- Price it realistically from day one. A property that sits at an optimistic asking rent for three weeks before being dropped almost always ends up costing more in void time than pricing it correctly from the start.
- Sort compliance certificates in advance. A gas safety certificate or EICR that’s about to lapse can hold up moving a new tenant in, even once you’ve found one.
- Keep the property genuinely presentable between tenancies. A quick turnaround clean and any small repairs done immediately, rather than left for “whenever,” shortens the gap between one tenant leaving and the next viewing.
- Notify your insurer the day a tenancy ends. Even a short expected void is worth flagging, since a “quick” gap that runs longer than planned is a common way cover lapses unnoticed.
Minimising void periods is one of the main things a good managing agent actually earns their fee on — not just finding a tenant, but timing it so there’s barely a gap at all. It’s a core part of what we do for landlords across Brighton & Hove through our managed lettings service.
Worried about an upcoming void?
Tell us when your current tenancy ends and we’ll get marketing moving early, so there’s as little gap as possible.
Talk to us about your propertyCouncil tax empty property premiums: Brighton & Hove City Council, in force from 1 April 2024, current as of September 2026. Insurance vacancy thresholds and unoccupied cover costs are general UK market figures and vary by insurer and policy — check your own policy wording directly. This is general information and not financial or insurance advice — please confirm the specific terms of your own policy and council tax account.