The Government plans to cut the time a home must normally stand empty before a council can seek an Empty Dwelling Management Order from two years to six months, potentially bringing a much larger part of London's vacant housing stock within reach of the regime.
The London angle is substantial. Official analysis published by the London Assembly records 47,287 long-term empty homes in the capital in 2025, with long-term defined as more than six months. But those properties will not automatically become subject to council control: the reform announced on 27 September has not yet been brought into force, tribunal safeguards remain and several categories of empty home are specifically protected.
Older buildings in central London alongside active construction works, photographed on August 2026. The image is used to illustrate LCM coverage of long-term empty homes and proposed EDMO reforms; it does not indicate that any property pictured is vacant. Photo: London Construction Magazine.
What the Government Announced on 27 September
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that the qualifying vacancy period for an Empty Dwelling Management Order, or EDMO, will be reduced from two years to six months. The Government also intends to remove evidential requirements relating to matters such as anti-social behaviour and community support for intervention. Those requirements were added to the regime in 2012 and can make an EDMO application more demanding for local authorities.
The six-month rule is not in force yet. Sunday's announcement does not give a commencement date and does not publish the amending statutory instrument. Councils therefore remain subject to the current two-year rule until the legal framework is changed.
The Existing Law Already Contains a Six-Month Starting Point
There is an unusual legal detail behind the announcement. Section 134 of the Housing Act 2004 originally provides for a dwelling to have been wholly unoccupied for at least six months, or for a longer period prescribed by secondary legislation. That longer period was introduced through the 2012 EDMO amendment order, which prescribed a two-year vacancy period. The same 2012 instrument added requirements for councils to provide information about nuisance caused to the community and evidence of community support for an EDMO.
The new policy therefore appears designed to reverse two important restrictions added in 2012: the longer two-year waiting period and additional community-evidence requirements. The Government has not yet published the final legal mechanism, commencement provisions or transitional treatment for EDMO applications already underway.
London Has 47,287 Long-Term Empty Homes
London Assembly analysis of MHCLG data shows that the capital had 105,138 empty homes in 2025. Of these, 47,287 were recorded as long-term empty under the MHCLG statistical definition.
| London empty-home measure | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All empty homes | 58,096 | 105,138 | +81% |
| Long-term empty homes | 19,845 | 47,287 | +138% |
Long-term empty homes alone increased by 23% between 2024 and 2025. Barnet recorded the highest borough figure in the latest London Assembly analysis, at 3,278 homes empty for more than six months, while the City of London recorded 152. The six-month statistical definition now happens to match the threshold the Government intends to introduce for EDMO eligibility. That does not mean all 47,287 properties could receive an EDMO. The housing statistics and the legal test measure different things.
The scale nevertheless matters in a city where housing availability remains under severe pressure. LCM has previously examined the gap between London's housing pipeline and delivered supply in 281,000 Unbuilt Homes: Why London Rents Are Above £2,200, while more recent GLA evidence puts underlying London housing need at around 89,300 homes a year.
Can a Council Take Over a Home After Six Months?
No. Six months would make a property potentially eligible for the EDMO process; it would not transfer ownership or automatically give a council control of the home. Under the Housing Act 2004, a local housing authority must first investigate the circumstances, make reasonable efforts to contact the owner and consider what steps the owner intends to take to bring the dwelling back into occupation. An interim EDMO also requires tribunal authorisation.
The Government's own announcement makes clear that legal ownership remains with the property owner. An EDMO instead gives the local authority temporary management powers intended to return the home to occupation. A final EDMO can remain in force for up to seven years. The Government press release refers to the Residential Property Tribunal. Tribunal functions were subsequently transferred into the modern tribunal structure, with EDMO matters now falling within the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
Which Empty Homes Are Protected?
The existing 2006 EDMO regulations contain a substantial list of prescribed exceptions. Nothing in the 27 September announcement says those protections are being removed. Protected situations currently include homes where the owner is temporarily living elsewhere; is absent to receive or provide personal care; or is away because of service in the armed forces. Holiday homes and properties genuinely marketed for sale or letting are also listed as prescribed exceptions.
Other exceptions cover properties affected by certain court orders or criminal proceedings, homes in mortgagee possession and properties whose owner has died where six months has not elapsed since the grant of representation. Renovation requires more care. A property undergoing building work is not simply given a blanket exemption. Existing regulations require the council, where an owner is carrying out repairs, maintenance or improvements, to explain to the tribunal why an EDMO is still required to secure occupation. The Housing Act also requires the tribunal to be satisfied that there is no reasonable prospect of the dwelling becoming occupied in the near future without intervention.
What the New Empty Home Rules Do Not Mean
The announcement does not create an automatic power for councils to seize private homes after 180 days. It does not transfer title to the council, remove the tribunal process or establish that every home recorded as long-term empty by MHCLG will qualify. It also does not bring the six-month threshold into effect immediately. The existing two-year prescribed period remains part of the current legal framework until the Government makes and commences the necessary legal changes.
What would change is the point at which councils can begin using the EDMO route against an otherwise eligible empty property. Reducing that period from two years to six months could substantially increase the number of properties that councils are able to investigate without waiting for a second anniversary of vacancy.
What Happens Next?
The next document to watch is the legal instrument implementing the reform. That should establish the commencement date and confirm exactly how the 2012 two-year period and additional evidence requirements will be amended. Until that is published, London's 47,287 long-term empty homes should be treated as housing-stock context rather than a count of properties legally exposed to an EDMO. LCM will update this analysis when the final regulations and commencement provisions are published.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |