Additional £700,000 to bring empty homes back into use
Additional funding will help return a number of empty homes into use as affordable housing or temporary accommodation, supporting more families into settled homes of their own.
A further £700,000 is being allocated to help homeowners fund the necessary repairs and refurbishments needed to bring empty homes back into use. The funding, which will be split across 10 local authorities, can be used to establish or extend grant schemes for empty homeowners.
This means that the Scottish Government is now investing £2 million this year to transform empty homes into productive use.
A report published today by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership shows that a record number of empty homes were returned to active use during 2025-26.
Announcing the fund at the Partnership’s conference in Glasgow yesterday, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We want everyone in Scotland to be able to have a warm, safe and affordable place to call home.
“While house building remains the cornerstone of our approach to increase supply, we’re using every lever available to make sure existing homes support the needs of our communities too. That’s why this funding matters.
“Temporary accommodation can act as an important safety net, but we also recognise the impact that long-term stays can have particularly on children’s wellbeing and stability. This funding may help councils to move households from temporary into settled permanent accommodation.
“Our investment of £5.7 million in the Partnership approach has delivered real results with more than 15,000 empty homes brought back into use since 2010, including a record 2,285 in the last year alone. This latest investment will help local authorities turn more empty homes into affordable housing for people that need them the most.”
Tahmina Nizam, National Manager of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, said: “This additional Scottish Government funding to support efforts to tackle empty homes across Scotland’s local authorities will be welcomed throughout the sector.
“We know that sustained, targeted investment in empty homes can deliver real and measurable outcomes, with the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership annual survey showing a record 2,285 formerly empty properties brought back into use. Rather than lying vacant, these are now providing homes for thousands of individuals and families across Scotland.
“This has only been possible through a step-change in empty homes work. Additional investment has enabled not only the expansion and growth of empty homes services across councils, but also the sort of targeted grant support for individual projects that this new funding will help to deliver.
“We look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government, local authorities and others in the sector to ensure that this additional resource can deliver the best possible outcomes, bringing an increasing number of empty homes in Scotland back into use as affordable housing.”
