A woman has revealed how she made £700 by reporting her neighbour's home to a property scheme that not many people may be aware of. Mum-of-three Ayyesha contacted YouSpotProperty after getting fed up with her neighbour's locked up and abandoned home - which had been derelict for so long, fly-tippers would often leave their rubbish in the garden.
However, after reaching out, she couldn't believe her luck when she found out she would be receiving £700 following years of living with the "eyesore". Now, the abandoned home will be spruced up and prepared for someone to move into it again.
YouSpotProperty rewards people for reporting empty properties in England. Should the property met the company's eligibility - including not being privately owned, up for sale and has not recently applied for planning permission - a £20 M&S or Amazon voucher will be dished out.
But people could get more than that if the firm ends up buying the property. Meaning you can get a one per cent share of the property value, up to £10,000.
Speaking to the Mirror, Ayyesha, who lives in Smethwick, West Midlands, and is a manager for a student accommodation, said: "We know from neighbours that the owner had once lived in it years back, yet for the past five years that we’ve lived next door, it had been left unoccupied - he’d returned maybe once a year only to sweet the front step.
“No one wanted to help, she said. No action was taken. Fly-tippers eventually started dumping mattresses on the front garden and this went on for nearly five years. We knew who the owner was and tried to track him down, but he failed to respond to any of our concerns, much to our frustration."
When Ayyesha first reported the house back in 2022, she initially received a £20 voucher. But after the home went on to be cleaned up and put up for sale, the mum was stunned to be sent an email from YouSpotProperty saying she was eligible for £700.
All the 30-year-old did to report the property was take pictures of it and upload it onto the company's website. She said: "When something is too good to be true, it usually is, however, I called YouSpotProperty following the email and was immediately answered by their finance controller who said ‘you must be Ayyesha’ – I was gobsmacked and overjoyed.
"Initially, I thought I would be getting another voucher, following the £20 Amazon one I received in 2022 for spotting the house – I hadn’t clocked the one per cent reward incentive linked to the firm actually purchasing the property. I’m 30 this year, I didn’t have an 18th or a 21st, so this money will definitely go towards a celebration this year.”
More than 100 empty houses have been “rescued” by YouSpotProperty over the past decade, with the company having given out 8,189 £20 vouchers. To date, the firm has paid out 133 reward fees for homes they eventually went onto buy, before placing them back into use.
In 2017, one man became the largest one per cent recipient with £10,000 paid to him after YouSpotProperty completed the purchase of a £1.15million property he reported. YouSpotPropert.com co-founder, Nick Kalms, said: "Dealing with empty homes is one of the most complex situations to resolve for local communities, as the reason they fall into this position is often so varied.
"Mostly, it’s near impossible to locate and speak to owners as they can’t easily be traced. We have a specialist team to deal with just this element.
"Often, houses are the subject of long and complicated probate following the death of an individual, and they can sit empty for years. Councils have limited powers and resources to allocate to this which is why they end up blighting neighbourhoods – and this is where we step in."
