Havering Council is outperforming its London peers in managing void properties, according to a report presented at the Place Overview & Scrutiny Sub Committee meeting on 1 July 2025. The council's void performance is benchmarked against London peers using key-to-key times, and is considered to be significantly outperforming top quartile performance. Top quartile performance is considered 66.27 days, while Havering's current void performance is achieving 55.13 days, according to the Voids Overview Report.
The council's housing service aims to make unoccupied properties available for letting as quickly as possible, minimising rent loss and maximising the availability of housing. Voids are unoccupied properties that often require repairs before new occupants can move in.
The council manages approximately 9,250 homes, including Private Sector Housing (PSH). Last year, about 757 properties became vacant, with an average of 80 voids being managed by the maintenance and lettings service at any given time. The council receives approximately 14.5 voids per week.
The council categorises voids into three classifications based on the cost of works:
- V1 – Under £3,500 in 11 days
- V2 – Over £3,500 in 19 days
- V3 – Over £16,500 in 70 days
The report pack included a link to a 360-degree property viewing of a property at 51 Montgomery Cres.
Customer satisfaction data relating to void performance was previously poor, prompting the council to launch customer satisfaction postcards to gather residents' feedback. The Voids Overview Report compares historic performance data from 2020-21 against current 2024-25 data, demonstrating significant improvements in the service area.
The council is also implementing a pre-exit process led by the rehousing and terminations team. When a tenant provides termination notice, the voids and lettings service receives a notification, allowing them to utilise the four weeks' notice period. During this time, a pre-exit survey will be undertaken to identify resident recharges, reducing the costs of works and the amount of work required.
This pre-exit process aims to reduce costs and the amount of work required on void properties by identifying resident recharges during the tenant's notice period.
The Voids Overview Report states that Havering's void performance when benchmarking against its London peers is not only top quartile performance but also significantly outperforming top quartile performance.