Voids Fall Despite Welfare Reform Fears

Social landlords have reported a drop of nearly 10% in void properties over the past year, confounding sector fears that welfare reforms would trigger a spike in empty homes. An exclusive survey by Inside Housing found 67 landlords across Britain had 8,878 empty properties as of 1 July this year, a 9.7% decrease on the 9,829 reported the previous year. The figure is also down on the 9,583 empty homes the landlords had in July 2012, before the bedroom tax came into effect. Read more on Inside Housing.