Crossword Genius

Be hesitant to leave housing in a poor state (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vacillate

'be hesitant' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'leave housing in a poor state' is the wordplay.
'leave' becomes 'vacate' (to vacate a place is to leave it).
'housing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'in a poor state' becomes 'ill' (poorly).
'vacate' placed around 'ill' is 'VACILLATE'.

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for vacillate that I've seen before include "Waver" , "Dither" , "indecisive" , "Be in two minds" , "Be unsteady" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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