Empty dwelling management order

Empty dwelling management orders (EDMOs) are a legal device used in England and Wales, which enable local authorities to put an unoccupied property back into use as housing.[3] Whilst they had broad parliamentary support, the EDMOs were strongly criticised in some sections of the media, with the Daily Express reporting that the government wanted to seize 250,000 homes, and a columnist in the Sunday Times declaring that Britain had become a "communist country".Brandon Lewis, speaking as housing minister, said that EDMOs were "an ineffective and unpopular policy of the last administration, which undermined civil liberties and which simply didn't work.[7] The regulations originally stated that a house simply had to be unoccupied for six months and not likely to be occupied in the near future, with a good chance that if an EDMO was granted it would be put back into use.[12] Once an interim EDMO has been granted, it lasts for up to twelve months, during which the authority works with the owner to try and agree a way to put the property back into use.