Almost 1,000 council homes across Nottinghamshire are empty, new figures have revealed.
One local government expert says the country has a “long-term problem” with empty homes, which is a symptom of a much bigger malaise.
The shortage of council homes – and affordable housing in general – is a significant problem that has been plastered across local and national headlines for years.
Waiting lists have been soaring, and a significant portion of the reason for this is the Right to Buy policy, under which millions of houses have been sold at discounted rates to their tenants.
Nowhere near enough council homes were built to replace them.
Seemingly endless waiting lists and rising homelessness have been a consequence of this, and now new figures show there are around 998 council homes across the city and county left empty and waiting for renovation.
‘We’ve had multiple initiatives over the last 20 years, none of which have been successful’
Peter Murphy, Professor of Public Policy and Management and Head of Research at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, says there have been multiple initiatives to try to help councils bring empty homes back into the market over the last two decades.
Low-emission homes in Nottingham
Two of the most recent and significant schemes included the Empty Homes Programme from 2012, and the Affordable Homes Programme from 2015 to 2018.
However, he says none have been resoundingly successful.
“You had the Empty Homes Programme between 2012 and 2015 when the coalition government was in power, and you had the cluster of empty homes programmes that followed it,” Prof Murphy said.
“You had the New Homes Bonus, which was again an incentive for bringing empty homes back into use, but the overall trend is of increasing empty homes, especially long-term empties, and they have been rising for several consecutive years.
“England now has more long-term empty homes than at any time since the war years. We are going through a period where we have not had any housing initiatives that have really worked.”
Prof Murphy said gone are the days of housing improvement grants, which began to decline during John Major’s premiership in the 1990s, and the significant council house-building years following the Second World War.
“It used to be that housing was treated as a social problem, but at some point in the 70s we started treating housing as an economic problem,” he added, going on to say empty homes, homelessness and soaring rents are the “symptoms of a much bigger malaise”.
“Since it has been treated as an economic problem, we have had a shortage of all types. We have never had enough housing stock to keep pace with the population.”
The Labour Government currently has plans to boost housebuilding, with aims to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the current Parliament.
Councils such as Gedling and Rushcliffe do not own or manage their own housing stock.
Figures show Nottingham City Council currently has the most void properties but has been making considerable progress in bringing many back into circulation.
The figures have fallen since Nottingham’s housing stock was brought back under the full control of the Labour-led council.
Nottingham City Homes (NCH), the arm’s-length management firm that previously managed them, was disbanded after it was discovered that millions of pounds of rent payers’ money had been incorrectly – and in some cases unlawfully – transferred to the council’s general fund.
There are currently around 11,000 people on the authority’s housing waiting list.
The council says that, as of February 2026, it had 362 empty (void) properties at various stages of work.
This number is down from 739 in August 2025.
Prof Murphy said the figure pointed to the council bucking a national trend of rising empty homes.
“Works to these properties can include anything from changing the locks to installing a new kitchen or bathroom, plus any necessary gas and electrical safety checks,” a council spokesperson said.
“Once all the works are completed and a property is safe, it is handed over to the lettings team so it can be offered to someone on the housing waiting list.
“We currently have 204 homes in the lettings process, with offers being made and lets being negotiated for people in housing need in Nottingham.
“On average, we receive 15 voids a week and return 21 to let.”
Mansfield District Council’s own figures show it has the second-highest number of empty council homes in the county.
As of 21 January this year, there were 268 void properties.
Council figures published last year revealed there were 369 more applications in the 12 months to March 2025, bringing the total number of applications for housing to 4,728, up from 4,359 in March 2024.
Families were said to have been waiting up to a year for homes – an average of 282 days.
The council says its target rent loss due to empty properties is 1.75 per cent, but as of quarter three in the current financial year of 2025/26, it has been losing 3.75 per cent of rental income.
Furthermore, it has a target for all re-lets to go back on the market within 80 days, but the re-let time was 185 days in the same quarter.
“The increase in the number of voids and the longer turnaround time was due to a historical compliance-driven decision to remove all asbestos from properties when they become void, an increased void specification and contractor capacity,” council documents add.
In Broxtowe, the Broxtowe Alliance-led council says it has 55 void properties.
The council owns its own housing stock and currently manages around 4,400 properties, and there were around 1,300 active applications on its housing waiting list as of last year.
“We are actively working to minimise the number of empty properties at any time,” a spokesperson said.
“We have a proactive approach to property turnaround time, and a key aim within the teams is to ensure that properties do not stand empty longer than necessary.
“Our teams are focused on minimising waiting times and ensuring properties are ready for occupation as soon as possible.”
Over the current financial year to date, the council says it has let 265 homes, helping individuals and families to access quality, affordable accommodation throughout the borough.
“We remain committed to maximising our housing stock, reducing our void periods and delivering quality homes for all our applicants,” the spokesperson said.
Bassetlaw District Council says it deals with voids in line with its process and responded to say it currently has 120 empty council properties.
Ashfield District Council says it has around 40 to 50 vacant council homes at any one time.
“The properties will either be with our repairs team to complete works to bring the property up to a lettable standard or with our lettings team to be allocated to an applicant on the housing register,” a spokesperson said.
“We have tight targets for turning around and letting our vacant properties.
“We do not have any difficult-to-let properties or homes in disrepair that we are unable to let.”
Newark and Sherwood District Council has around 143 empty council properties.
Cllr Lee Brazier (Lab), the council’s portfolio holder for housing, said he “recognises” improvements need to be made to the authority’s housing function, including bringing the empty properties back into use.
A four-year investment programme totalling £83 million will see improvements to kitchens, bathrooms and heating, he said at a meeting on 10 February, where the housing revenue account was discussed.
