Southwark Council owns the highest amount of empty homes out of every borough in London, with 789 homes empty in 2017, according to the latest statistics.

But the council also owns the most social housing in London, a council spokesperson told the News Shopper.

“Turning round empty council housing is a big priority for the council – Southwark Council is the biggest local authority social landlord in London, and the fourth largest nationally with around 39,000 council rented homes,” the spokesperson said.

“Properties become vacant and are re-let constantly, so the numbers are always a snapshot for any particular hour of any day.”

Southwark also had one of the highest numbers of homes which have been vacant for six months or more in London, with 1,128 homes empty in 2017. This includes both private and council-owned homes.

Local authorities can take legal action against the owners of empty homes through an empty dwelling management order (EDMO) or a compulsory purchase order (CPO) as a “last resort,” the spokesperson said.

In the past ten years, Southwark Council has obtained five confirmed CPOs on four properties and one vacant site. Southwark Council has not used any empty property management orders in the past three years.

“CPOs have historically been the preferred legal option over EDMO due to the cost involved in the works to bring long-term problematic empty properties back into use,” the spokesperson added.

“Within the EDMO framework councils can lease a property for a maximum of seven years, funding therefore must be recouped within that time frame including any additional cost such as management fees etc.

“CPO action is considered a very last resort where all attempts fail or where an owner is untraceable, for example. Over the past three years, Southwark Council has brought a total of 125 private properties back into use.  Options have ranged from funding assistance, advice and information that led to owners redeveloping or selling their properties, as well as the council providing leasing options for landlords.”

Any council properties which were empty were quickly brought up to a letting-standard, the spokesperson said.

Southwark also ranked highly for empty Housing Association homes, with 162 empty in 2017.