Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there are any circumstances in which a residential home would be considered as empty where the resident has been unable to sell or is long-term sick and hospitalised.

Properties being sold are not eligible for empty dwellings management orders (EDMOs), nor are the homes of people away from home because they are being cared for in hospital or elsewhere. The full exemptions to EDMOs are set out in guidance available on the Government website and set out a balanced approach between giving local authorities appropriate powers to bring empty homes into use and protecting home owners whose properties may be empty for a period due to personal circumstances.