Vigorous check in very small housing (6)
I believe the answer is:
punchy
'vigorous' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'check in very small housing' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'check' could be 'ch' (abbreviation) and 'ch' is found in the answer.
'small' could be 'puny' (similar in meaning) and 'puny' is found in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for punchy that I've seen before include "like a former magazine?" , "Vigorous (in speech)" , "Forceful" , "Incisive" , "Sharp and powerful" .)