Overview
- Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced at the Labour conference on Tuesday that councils would get powers to compel landlords to fix dangerous rented homes and to acquire properties if owners ignore warning notices.
- The party signalled it will lower the vacancy threshold used to take empty homes into council control to as little as six months, replacing the current longer period.
- Ministers framed the package as a public‑health and housing‑supply measure, with Burnham likening unsafe homes to harmful food to justify state intervention.
- Industry groups including Propertymark have demanded detailed rules on how councils would carry out repairs with tenants in place, who would pay for remedial work, and how seized properties would be managed.
- Conservative politicians and commentators have attacked the plan as an infringement of property rights, setting up likely legal challenges and an intense parliamentary fight over how the powers would be written and used.