Labour has announced plans to give local authorities greater powers to intervene when rented homes remain in poor condition, including taking control of properties from owners who fail to carry out required repairs.
The proposal, announced at the Labour conference, focuses on rental properties that ministers say can affect tenants’ health and the condition of surrounding neighbourhoods. The plans would involve changing the law if existing council powers are considered insufficient.
Government Targets Rental Properties In Poor Condition
According to GB News, Labour figures said councils would be supported in taking action against landlords who ignore improvement notices. The announcement was presented as part of a wider housing approach aimed at addressing properties considered unsafe or unsuitable for residents.
Andy Burnham said at the Labour conference that some rented homes remained in unacceptable states of repair.
“You will see rented homes in a poor state of repair too, on many British streets,” he told the Labour conference on Tuesday.
“Homes which harm the health of people inside and drag down streets around them.
“The worst of it, often owned by absent landlords who are paid through the benefit system but refuse to reinvest anything in the upkeep of the property.”
Burnham compared standards in housing with regulations covering food safety, arguing that the state already restricts products that can harm public health.
“We don’t let people sell food which damages health, so why allow it with homes?” Mr Burnham asked.
The plans also include measures linked to housing supply, including allowing councils to build on unused public land. Labour has said newly built homes would not be subject to the right-to-buy policy, while people already living in affected properties would not lose existing rights.
Labour won’t sit back and allow empty dwellings to be left to rot.
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) September 27, 2026
Today, we’re strengthening powers for local leaders to take over empty and derelict homes and put them back into use.
Property Industry Raises Questions Over Implementation
The proposals have drawn attention from representatives of the property sector, who have asked for more details about how the measures would operate in practice.
Timothy Douglas, the head of policy at industry body Propertymark, said: “Further clarity is needed on how the proposals would work in practice, including carrying out remedial work with a tenant in situ, the responsibilities of different parties, and how properties would be managed if they passed into local authority control or ownership.”
Questions raised by industry representatives include how repairs would be organised when tenants remain in homes, who would hold responsibility during intervention, and how properties transferred to councils would be managed.
Debate Over Empty Homes And Property Rights
The announcement follows earlier Labour proposals involving empty properties. Ministers have supported reducing the period before councils can use compulsory measures on some vacant homes from two years to six months.
The issue has led to criticism from opposition figures, who argue that stronger council powers could affect private property rights.
Islington South and Finsbury MP Dame Emily Thornberry previously argued that long-term empty homes should face intervention during a housing shortage.
Opposition figures have challenged the approach. Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “The loony left are always keen to revoke our fundamental rights when it becomes convenient to do so; on this occasion, property rights.
“Seizing someone’s home because you disapprove of how they use it is classic socialist authoritarianism.”
The government’s proposals remain focused on rental properties that councils identify as failing to meet required standards, with further details expected on how any expanded powers would be applied.
The current rules allow councils to take action against certain empty properties after two years of vacancy, while Labour has proposed reducing that period to six months.
