Rents void management overview

A void is the term given to any property that does not have occupying tenants for a period of time. Housing organisations must have in place a policy and set of procedures for managing void properties in order to ensure that loss of rental income, security and repair costs are minimised. It is also recognised that void properties can have a detrimental effect on neighbouring properties and the wider community as a whole. One of the key goals to reintroducing void properties to the housing stock is to ensure they are of a letting standard. Within Civica Cx Housing, attributes are set against the property in terms of it being 'available for shortlisting' (i.e. the property is potentially suitable for tenants, with only minimal repairs being necessary before a letting can be secured) and 'available for letting' (i.e. the property is ready for the next occupation). In order to determine the financial impact of a void episode, individual rent charges and underlying components can be linked to the asset and levied in the normal way i.e. equating to the lost revenue. Adjustments against these standard charges can also be posted to provide the most accurate void loss figure.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of rents void management, including:

• To define the status of an asset void episode
• To create a new charge for an asset void episode
• To adjust the loss value of an asset void episode
• To add a new charge element to an asset void adjustment