A growing policy priority

Momentum behind these initiatives has been building in recent years. In 2023, the Fabian Society called for the acquisition of 500,000 homes over a decade from private landlords looking to sell. Similarly, the think-tank New Economics Foundation also outlined the case for buyouts to boost social housing.

In the Capital, the Greater London Authority’s “Right to Buy Back” scheme acquired 1,500 homes in its first year, repurposing them as council housing. While in Scotland, the government has pledged £60 million annually to support housing buybacks by councils and housing associations.

This approach aligns with a wider national concern: according to the charity Action on Empty Homes, there are over 1 million empty homes. While the Office for National Statistics reports that the 2021 Census data puts the figure even higher, with 1.5 million unoccupied dwellings in England and 121,000 in Wales.

While not all of these are long-term vacant (many are second homes or holiday lets), a portion will be empty due to structural problems such as subsidence, historically too expensive to fix with conventional underpinning methods.

Innovative solutions for subsidence

Advances in ground engineering now mean these homes don’t have to stay empty. Resin injection technology is enabling councils and housing providers to remediate subsidence quickly, safely, and cost-effectively, bringing uninhabitable properties back into use.

Birmingham City Council, for example, worked with ground improvement specialists Mainmark to stabilise the ground beneath 16 Grade II listed “Phoenix Type” bungalows, which were built in 1945 to tackle post-war housing shortages. By injecting Teretek® resin at precise depths, Mainmark was able to strengthen the foundations without major disruption - even in land with high levels of groundwater. Each bungalow was treated in just over a day bringing them back into use once again to tackle the current housing shortage.

In more severe cases, such as flats within larger apartment blocks that are subsiding, multi-point grouting provides a quick and cost-effective solution. Controlled by computer, this technique injects grout into the ground to fill voids, compact soil, and re-level entire buildings. The result: properties once deemed too costly to repair can be made habitable again, supporting local authorities’ urgent housing needs.

Unlocking housing potential

As the demand for affordable homes continues to grow, councils will be under increasing pressure to maximise existing housing stock. By combining strategic buybacks with innovative remediation techniques, local authorities can transform previously uninhabitable homes into safe, secure housing—without the prohibitive costs and delays of traditional construction.

The challenge of housing supply is complex, but modern engineering solutions are ensuring that even properties once written off as “too difficult” can play a role in addressing it.