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Rayner Cuts Empty Home Order Vacancy to Six Months

By Drooid · Sep 28, 2026, 12:07 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Rayner Cuts Empty-Home Vacancies

Labour Housing Secretary Angela Rayner announced reforms giving councils greater powers to take over empty homes.
The reforms cut the vacancy period for an Empty Dwelling Management Order from two years to six months.
The application process is streamlined by dropping evidential requirements such as anti-social behaviour evidence.
The government aims to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, with the reforms supporting that goal.

Summary

Hollinrake Decries Reforms

Kevin Hollinrake said the reforms attack fundamental property rights.
Emily Thornberry praised the changes, arguing empty homes should be seized.
Kirstie Allsopp warned councils lack authority to renovate, calling seizure a fantasy.
EDMOs were created by the 2004 Housing Act, with the threshold raised to two years in 2012.
Government says the reforms will protect councils from costs incurred managing EDMO properties.

History

Historical Context

In October 1980 the Housing Act, championed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine, gave council tenants the legal right to buy their homes. By 1997 the scheme had sold over 1 million dwellings, shrinking the social-housing stock. Labour Housing Secretary Angela Rayner’s 2024 EDMO reforms seek to reclaim vacant homes, invoking the same Right-to-Buy legacy criticised by Kevin Hollinrake.

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Rayner Cuts Empty-Home Vacancies

Labour Housing Secretary Angela Rayner announced reforms giving councils greater powers to take over empty homes.
The reforms cut the vacancy period for an Empty Dwelling Management Order from two years to six months.
The application process is streamlined by dropping evidential requirements such as anti-social behaviour evidence.
The government aims to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, with the reforms supporting that goal.

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