New figures reveal Birmingham City Council lost more than £3 million in rental income from empty general needs homes in 2025/26
Birmingham City Council has revealed that it lost more than £3 million in rental income in a single year because council homes were sitting empty.
The figure was revealed following a Full Council question from Reform UK Birmingham’s Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Cherie Waddingham.
The Council confirmed that general needs homes standing empty resulted in £3,033,736 of lost rental income during 2025/26 - equivalent to around £58,000 every week.
It follows research previously obtained by Cllr Waddingham which revealed:
683 council homes were awaiting re-letting
208 had been empty for more than three months
33,751 households were on Birmingham’s housing waiting list
Average turnaround was 52 days for homes not requiring major works and 135 days where major works were needed
Cllr Cherie Waddingham said:
“We already knew that hundreds of Birmingham council homes were sitting empty while thousands of households waited for somewhere to live.
“Now we know the financial cost too - more than £3 million in lost rent in just one year alone.
“Some empty homes will understandably need significant work before they can be re-let. But every unnecessary week a council home stands empty means a family is waiting longer and rental income that should be supporting Birmingham’s housing service is being lost.
“Residents deserve to know what is being done to bring these homes back into use more quickly.”
Cllr Jex Parkin, Leader of Reform UK Birmingham, said: