Keys back on Monday, and then what?
A tenant hands in notice. The keys come back to the office, or through the letterbox, or are never returned. Someone raises a void inspection. The surveyor visits and specifies works to your lettable standard. The works go to a contractor. Gas and electrical checks, an asbestos survey and a clean follow. Meanwhile lettings are waiting to hear when the home will be ready, and the housing officer is dealing with belongings left behind.
Each step is done by a different team, with its own list. The void report shows how long homes are empty, but not why.
Why voids stall
The work in a void is usually well understood. Delay comes from the handoffs: the time between one team finishing and the next team knowing. Each team is busy, so a void that nobody chases waits.
- Notice and key return are recorded in the housing management system, but repairs are not told straight away.
- Void works are specified, then wait for a contractor slot without anyone watching.
- Safety checks and surveys are booked separately, and the last one holds up the rest.
- Utilities, meters and debt on the meter are sorted late.
- Lettings start looking for a tenant only when the home is declared ready.
What slow voids cost
Every week a home is empty is lost rent and a household on the waiting list who could have been housed. Empty homes attract break-ins and damage, which adds work. Void performance is also one of the figures boards, and increasingly tenants, look at closely. Teams feel the pressure without having a clear picture of where the delays are.
The void tracker we build
- When a tenancy end is recorded in your housing management system, a void record is created with the expected key date.
- Each void follows your stages: keys received, inspection, works specified, works in progress, safety checks, clean, ready to let, offered, signed up.
- Each stage has an owner and a target set by you. Days in stage are shown against the target.
- Safety checks, surveys and utility tasks run in parallel with works where your process allows, and each shows its status, so the one holding up the home is obvious.
- Contractors update works progress through a simple link or through your repairs system if it is connected, so the tracker stays current.
- Lettings see the expected ready date and can start matching and viewing before works finish, following your lettings policy.
- Managers get a daily list of voids that are over target at any stage and the reason recorded.
| Stage | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Keys received | Can the inspection be booked? |
| Works in progress | Is the contractor on track for the ready date? |
| Safety checks | Which check is outstanding? |
| Ready to let | Has lettings got an applicant lined up? |
| Offered | Has the applicant accepted and signed? |
Your lettable standard, targets and lettings policy stay as you set them. The tracker shows progress against them.
What voids look like with the tracker
Every empty home is on one board with its stage, owner and days in stage. Delays show up the day they start rather than at month end. Lettings plan viewings ahead of the ready date. Void meetings become a short look at the few homes that are stuck and why, rather than a round-the-table update from each team.
Does your void process look like this?
- You know your average void time but not where the time goes.
- Teams hand voids to each other by email.
- A single outstanding safety check can hold up a home for days.
- Lettings wait for a ready date before looking for a tenant.
- Void meetings are spent collecting updates.