Labour is preparing to give councils greater powers to take control of privately owned homes left empty for as little as six months, in a significant expansion of local authorities’ ability to intervene in the housing market.
Ministers are considering reducing the current two-year threshold for an Empty Dwelling Management Order by 75 per cent, arguing that bringing long-term vacant properties back into use could help ease Britain’s housing shortage.
Under the existing system, an order does not transfer ownership of a property to the council. Instead, it allows the local authority to take over its management and rent it out for a period of up to seven years.
Current guidance also requires councils to demonstrate evidence of problems associated with the property, including anti-social behaviour, before seeking an order.
The government is considering removing that requirement, potentially making it significantly easier for councils to take control of the management of vacant homes.
Ministers are also examining whether councils should be protected from some of the costs involved in taking control of properties.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has argued that the reforms could “help solve the housing crisis”, as Labour seeks to increase the supply of homes without relying exclusively on new construction.
The proposals have nevertheless triggered a political dispute over the balance between tackling housing shortages and protecting private property rights.
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Party chairman, criticised the plans on social media.
“The loony left are always keen to revoke our fundamental rights when it becomes convenient to do so; on this occasion, property rights,” he wrote.
“Seizing someone’s home because you disapprove of how they use it is classic socialist authoritarianism.”
Lord Frost, the former Brexit minister, also warned homeowners against leaving properties vacant.
“After six months the Government will come for it and rent it to someone else,” he said, advising Britons not to “risk leaving your house empty”.
Labour has stressed that the proposals would target properties that remain vacant for extended periods, rather than homes temporarily unoccupied because they are being renovated, transferred between owners or prepared for sale.
Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, welcomed the proposed changes.
“I said it in 2020, and I’ll say it again. If you leave a home empty long-term in the middle of a housing crisis, it should be seized,” she said.
Former prime minister Liz Truss responded by branding Thornberry and other supporters of the policy “commies”.
The scale of the potential intervention is illustrated by official vacancy figures. More than 300,000 properties in England were classified as long-term empty last year, equivalent to about 1.2 per cent of the housing stock.
In October 2025, 303,185 homes had been empty for at least six months, a rise of more than 14 per cent from the previous year.
The figures include properties that may be vacant for reasons unrelated to speculation or deliberate withholding from the housing market, including renovations, probate and preparations for sale.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders have been available to councils for more than two decades, but ministers say there have been no requests for such orders since 2021.
The current two-year threshold was introduced by the coalition government in 2012.
The proposed reduction would therefore represent a substantial shift in the circumstances under which councils could intervene in the management of privately owned homes, as Labour attempts to turn unused housing stock into an additional source of supply.
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