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Recorded voids account for 1.5% of observed rental days for self-managing landlords in Landlord Studio's data.
Key findings
- Most empty homes are re-let within about 24 days, but some sit empty far longer, which raises the average to 45 days.
- 58% of voids end within 30 days. 15% last more than 90 days.
- Voids lengthened in 2025–26. The median rose to 27 days, from 22 the year before, after five years at 20 to 24 days.
- The North East loses the most rentable days to voids (2.9%), with a median void of 37 days.
- The West Midlands loses the fewest (1.1%), because voids there are less frequent, not because they are short.
- Homes that empty in September re-let fastest, with a median void of 14 days. Homes that empty in December wait 34 days.
- Inner London's median void, 13 days, is nine days shorter than Outer London's.
What is the average void period in each UK region?
The North East (median 37 days) and Scotland (32 days) lose the most rentable days to voids, at 2.9% and 2.2%. London has the shortest median void, at 19 days.
The table ranks all 12 UK regions and nations by the share of rentable days lost to voids over the three years to March 2026. That combines how often homes empty and how long they stay empty; the median and average show length alone.
* Northern Ireland has too few landlords with voids to report void lengths. Ranked on unrounded figures. The median is the midpoint of recorded void lengths; a few long voids pull the average up.
What is a void period?
A void period is the time a rental property sits empty between one tenancy ending and the next one starting. The landlord earns no rent during a void but still pays bills, council tax and any mortgage on the property.
How much rent does a void period cost?
A median 24-day void costs about 80% of a month's rent. Across all homes in Landlord Studio's data, recorded voids account for 1.5% of observed rental days, about five and a half days a year.
Which regions have the longest void periods?
The North East and Scotland lose the highest share of rentable days to voids. Homes in the North East stand empty for a median 37 days between tenancies, and fewer than half of voids end within a month. Scotland follows, at a median 32 days.
The North East and Scotland also have the highest gross rental yields in the UK, according to Zoopla's buy-to-let research. Longer voids eat into some of that advantage. Our guide to the real costs of being a landlord covers the other costs that come out of rent.
Which regions lose the fewest days to void periods?
The West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South East lose the smallest share of rental days to void periods, all at 1.2% or less. In the West Midlands, gaps between tenancies happen less often than across the UK. However, when they do occur, the median gap lasts 28 days - longer than the UK median.
London and the South West have the shortest medians, at 19 and 20 days. Almost two in three London voids end within a month, the highest share of any region.
How long do London rentals stay empty?
London's figure hides a split between Inner and Outer London.
- Inner London: median void of 13 days, 69% of voids ending within a month, and 1.2% of rentable days lost.
- Outer London: median void of 22 days, 62% ending within a month, and 1.7% of rentable days lost.
Are void periods getting longer?
Yes, in the latest year. The median void stayed between 20 and 24 days from 2020–21 to 2024–25. In the year to March 2026 it rose to 27 days, and the share of voids ending within a month fell to 54%.
One year is a short trend, so treat the 2025–26 rise as an early signal.
What time of year do rentals re-let fastest?
August and September. Homes that empty in September have a median void of 14 days, and in August 17 days. Homes that empty in December wait 34 days. July to September also accounts for about 30% of move-outs.
Do bigger homes take longer to re-let?
Up to three bedrooms, yes: the median void rises from 20 days for one bedroom to 28 days for three. Four-bedroom homes break the pattern, with a 23-day median but the largest share of days lost.
Homes with five or more bedrooms are left out because the sample is too small. The UK total includes homes with no bedroom count recorded.
How can landlords shorten void periods?
When a home will empty in November, December or January, voids tend to run longer in Landlord Studio's data, so start marketing as soon as notice arrives. You cannot always choose when a tenant leaves, especially now that tenancies in England are periodic.
Two general good practices also help, although they are not findings from our data. With the tenant's agreement and proper notice, arrange viewings and small repairs during the notice period, so the home is ready to let as soon as it is empty.
Find your next tenant before the void starts
A median void costs most of a month's rent, and winter voids tend to last longer. With Landlord Studio's find tenants tools, you can create a listing and set custom pre-screening questions as soon as notice arrives.
Methodology
Published void figures usually come from letting agents and cover a single month. We measured how long homes let by self-managing landlords in Landlord Studio stayed empty between tenancies, using anonymised tenancy records from April 2023 to March 2026.
Tenancy and rent records up to October 2026 confirm whether a void had ended.
- Void period: days between one tenancy ending and the next starting. Tenancy dates are checked against recorded rent, so tenancies that ran on past their end date, or ended early, are measured from the rent records.
- Share of days empty: void days as a share of observed rental days. For each home, observed days run from its first tenancy start to its last tenancy end, cut to the period, so a home let throughout counts every day of the period. They include both let days and counted void days; excluded gaps are removed from both the void days and the total. Days are clipped to each period, and void lengths are grouped by the month and year the void started.
- Not counted: days before a home's first tenancy or after its last, voids still open in October 2026, and gaps longer than a year, which are more likely refurbishment, owner use or a sale. Leaving out open voids can shorten measured void lengths, particularly in 2025–26.
- Uncertain gaps: where a gap ran over 90 days, the next tenancy was entered late, and the landlord showed no activity during the gap, we count only the first 90 days.
- Probably an undercount: most of these exclusions would add void days if they were counted, so lost rental days are probably higher than shown. The figures do not count empty homes.
- Yearly figures: each April-to-March year on the same basis, for homes with rent recorded from April 2020.
- Exclusions: short-term and holiday lets, and homes with no rent recorded during the period.
- Minimum sample size: we only report regional figures where there is enough data, and aim to exclude long-term empty homes to focus on gaps between tenancies.
- Regions: from the property's postcode, using the ONS postcode lookup. Inner and Outer London follow the ONS definitions.
- Renters' Rights Act: these figures cover tenancies up to March 2026, so they give a baseline before the May 2026 reforms in England, when most assured shorthold tenancies became rolling tenancies.