[Jon T]

Originally Posted by mr,m

There is no mention either of the council acting as some sort of letting agent.

Empty Home Dwelling Orders allow local authorities to take over the management, but not the ownership, of a property.

But if an owner has no legally-approved excuse for keeping a home empty, councils can demand it be put on the market. Otherwise they can take control and let it out to council tenants.

I know exactly the areas that Nidge is talking about in his post. I also kind of agree with the Government's stance on this. There are far too many empty properties about, often in a state of disrepair. Yet on the other hand, there's high demand for basic housing with a low purchase price/monthly rent.

There's a tremendous amount of people out there who have brought properties as an investement, and just that, they don't intend to maintain, repair or upgrade them. Their sole purpose is to hold it as an asset untill they can dispose of it in a financially advantagous situation.