Scots keen for more progress on empty homes

More than two out of five Scots (43 per cent) believe their local council should be doing more to bring empty homes back into use, according to a survey published this week.

The research, produced by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP), also found that just 10 per cent of adults in Scotland felt their local authority was doing enough to tackle vacant properties.

While recognising that some progress was being made, Tahmina Nizam, SEHP’s national manager, urged Scottish councils to do more.

“Empty homes continue to have a significant role to play in our collective response to the housing emergency, offering a cost-effective, quick and environmentally friendly way to drive up the supply of much-needed homes,” she said.

“The increased housing investment in the Scottish government’s budget will be welcomed across the sector, but no one is under any illusions about the scale of the challenge posed by the housing emergency.”

Ms Nizam added that the SEHP research showed the public was keen for local authorities to take further action to address the issue.

According to latest Scottish Government figures, more than 43,500 of the nation’s homes have lain vacant for more than six months. Of these, around 31,500 have been empty for more than a year. SEHP itself helped to return 1,875 long-term empty homes to use in 2023-24.

Commenting on the report a Scottish government spokesperson said: “Tackling the housing emergency remains an urgent priority for the Scottish government and we are supporting local authorities to quickly identify properties and bring them back into use.

“Our £3.7m investment has so far brought almost 11,000 privately owned homes back into use since 2010, and we will invest a further £2m next year to help councils unlock barriers and develop a targeted approach to empty homes.”

SEHP polled 1,011 adults for its survey, whose findings were presented at the annual Scottish Empty Homes Conference in Glasgow this week.