Social Rented Housing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help local authorities reduce the number of void properties in their social housing stock.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The length of time a property is void can be affected by a range of factors, including whether a property is under repairs or in need of adaptations, how extensive these repairs or adaptations are and whether a property is earmarked for demolition or sales.
The government encourages social housing providers to develop solutions that make best use of the social housing stock and minimise void periods where possible.
Local authorities able to use funding from the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund to refurbish and bring long-term void stock back into use. On 11 June 2025 the government announced £950 million capital for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund through the Spending Review.
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