The Government has announced plans to let councils seek an Empty Dwelling Management Order after a home has stood empty for six months.
That would cut the current qualifying period from two years.
The reform was announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 27th September 2026.
Ministers also intend to remove evidential requirements relating to issues such as anti-social behaviour and community support, which currently form part of the application process.
But the six-month rule is not yet in force. The present two-year threshold remains the law in England.
It will continue to apply until the Government makes the necessary legal change and brings it into effect. No commencement date was announced.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “we can’t sit by and allow 300,000 long-term empty dwellings to be left unused”, ITV News reported.
Six months, but not yet
Empty Dwelling Management Orders, or EDMOs, were created by the Housing Act 2004.
They allow a local housing authority to take over management control of a qualifying long-term empty dwelling while ownership remains with the proprietor.
Section 134 of the Housing Act 2004 says the tribunal must be satisfied that a dwelling has been wholly unoccupied for at least six months.
It also allows ministers to prescribe a longer period.
That longer period is currently two years. The 2012 Amendment Order substituted two years for the six-month minimum.
It also requires councils to provide the tribunal with information showing whether the empty dwelling has caused a nuisance to the community.
Councils must also provide information about community support for the proposed order.
The 2012 Order also requires the owner to be given at least three months’ written notice before an application is made.
The Government’s announcement says the evidential requirements will be removed, but it does not say that this notice requirement will disappear.
The Government also says it is exploring further changes, including measures to protect councils from absorbing the costs of administering an Empty Dwelling Management Order.
Why the rules were tightened in 2012
The 2012 restrictions were deliberate. The explanatory memorandum said two years struck a balance between the civil liberties of responsible owners and local amenity.
It was intended to target homes more likely to blight neighbourhoods or become a focus for anti-social behaviour.
The Government now argues councils should be able to intervene earlier, before properties fall into serious disrepair.
What an Empty Dwelling Management Order actually does
An Empty Dwelling Management Order does not transfer ownership of the home to the council.
An interim order normally lasts for up to 12 months.
During that period the authority takes over most management rights and responsibilities, but it cannot arrange occupation without the owner’s written consent.
If the property is likely to remain empty, a final Empty Dwelling Management Order can follow.
A final order normally lasts for up to seven years.
It enables the council to manage the dwelling with the aim of securing occupation without needing the owner’s consent to grant occupation rights.
The council can arrange works, manage occupation and use rental income within the statutory scheme. Ownership does not transfer.
Councils have been asking for this
The announcement answers a long-running request from local government.
In March 2025 the Local Government Association called for the qualifying period to be reduced to six months.
LGA housing spokesperson Cllr Adam Hug said: “Reducing the EDMO qualifying period to six months would ensure more homes are available to meet local housing needs.”
The latest accredited Government figures record 303,185 long-term vacant dwellings in England on 6th October 2025, up 14.5 per cent in a year.
The figure covers homes empty for more than six months, not all vacant dwellings or second homes.
The issue has also attracted renewed attention in Parliament.
During a House of Lords debate on 17th September, crossbench peer Lord Bird described empty homes as “a completely wasted resource”.
He was pressing for a national empty homes strategy.
Planning control stays separate
For Planning Geek readers, one distinction is important. An Empty Dwelling Management Order is a housing management power under the Housing Act 2004.
It is not a form of planning enforcement and it does not change a property’s lawful planning use.
An order does not grant planning permission, override a planning condition or regularise an unlawful use.
If bringing a property back into occupation involves development or a material change of use, the normal planning rules continue to apply.
What owners and councils should watch now
For councils, the proposal would make an Empty Dwelling Management Order available much sooner.
For owners, the six-month point could become more significant once the new rules are in force.
Six months alone will not automatically trigger an Empty Dwelling Management Order. Other section 134 tests and prescribed exceptions will still matter.
Practitioners should now watch for the amending statutory instrument, or other legal measure, and exactly which 2012 requirements it removes or retains.
Until that happens, councils cannot rely on six months alone.
The two-year threshold remains operative law. No date should yet be assumed for the new regime to begin.
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