Labour plans to give councils powers to take over empty homes after six months

Labour is planning to give councils in England greater powers to take over empty and derelict homes, in a move aimed at bringing about 300,000 vacant properties back into use. The Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, said the government would make it easier for councils to bring idle homes back into use for desperate families who need them. The announcement was welcomed by Dame Emily Thornberry, who said that if a home is left empty during a housing crisis it should be seized.

Existing empty dwelling management orders have allowed councils to act on properties that have been completely unused for two years. They have existed since 2012, but have not been used since 2021. Under the plans discussed, the vacancy threshold would fall from two years to six months. Councils could then take over a property and potentially rent it out for up to seven years, according to one account, with later discussion referring to a period of up to eight years.

Supporters say the measure would address a severe shortage of housing and help 177,000 children living in temporary accommodation. One contributor argued that owners would not lose their property. The council would take control for between 12 months and eight years, spend money on repairs, and pay the owner some rent depending on the cost of renovation. A separate suggestion was made that Vancouver uses a vacancy tax worth 3% of a property's value after six months, which encourages owners to live in, sell or rent out homes while keeping ownership.

Critics attacked the plans as an assault on property rights. They described the policy as confiscatory, communist and close to theft. Jacob Rees-Mogg said long-term empty housing stock is about 1.2% of England's housing stock, around 300,000 homes, and argued that this is less than the country should be building in a year if planning rules worked properly. He said the real problem was planning and that the policy would not work because owners could avoid it by putting someone in a property for a week. Another critic said councils have had the power to act on two-year vacancies since 2021 but have not taken a single property, calling the plan a public relations stunt aimed at Labour backbenchers and party conference.

Much of the discussion widened into broader housing policy. Critics warned that tougher rules for landlords could push more owners to sell, reducing rental supply and raising rents for young working couples. Others said the law already covers bad landlords and that a balance is needed between protecting tenants and protecting good landlords. The debate also touched on planning delays, housing targets, net zero costs for builders, mortgage rates and migration as pressures on demand.

Questions were raised about how the policy would work in practice. One critic said removing evidential requirements would leave decisions to the discretion of local councils or mayors and could become subjective. Another disputed that all evidential requirements would be removed, but still warned that councils would gain wider discretionary powers. It was also asked how many homes would go to British people and how many would house migrants, a question that went unanswered in the discussion.