Tag: Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Boost for empty homes fund

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.”

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership Annual Report 2025-26

final-SEHP-26-Report-DigitalDownload

Scottish Government: Bringing more empty homes back into use

More support for local authorities

Additional empty homes officers are being recruited to bring more privately owned houses back into use.

The new posts are being supported as part of a £2 million investment through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership in 2025-26 which will see staff take a more proactive and targeted approach to tackling local housing issues.

Funding will also help to train and induct new staff, grow services and ensure empty homes are utilised, including by increasing support for local authorities to make compulsory purchase orders.

Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “Bringing homes back into use is a vital part of our plan to tackle the housing emergency. When too many families are struggling to find somewhere to live, it is unacceptable to me that that houses should lie empty.

“It’s important to help councils step up measures to turn privately-owned empty properties into much-needed homes and it’s encouraging that local authorities have already come forward to make use of this support.

“As the First Minister has set out, this government is determined to eradicate child poverty – and tackling the housing emergency by making sure families have access to a home is a crucial part of that.”

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership National Manager Tahmina Nizam said: “Every home matters as we work together to end Scotland’s housing emergency. 

“In councils across the country Empty Homes Officers are delivering results, with over 11,000 homes having brought back into use since 2010. The additional posts supported by this funding will expand on that vital work. 

“New Empty Homes Officers are already in post at City of Edinburgh Council, while recruitment is underway in several other local authorities. 

“Homes weren’t built to sit empty; every empty home has the potential to transform a family or individuals’ life but collectively they have an enormous role to play in reducing housing need and tackling the housing emergency.  

“We look forward to welcoming more new Empty Homes Officers as they come into post and supporting their efforts to bring more homes back into use.” 

Act now to ensure empty homes are not legacy of Covid crisis, says charity leader

Crumbling bricks, broken windows and overgrown gardens of empty homes across Scotland could be a visual legacy of the economic crisis caused by the Covid pandemic if action is not taken to bring more properties back in to use, says the leader of a project working with local authorities across the country.

Shaheena Din, National Project Manager for the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which is funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by Shelter Scotland, will tell the organisations 10th annual conference that local authorities must include working to bring Scotland’s almost 50,000 empty homes back into use as part of Covid-19 recovery plans or risk them becoming the symbol of economic crisis.

According to Scottish Government figures published in December, 47,333 properties in Scotland had been empty for 6 months or more, up 16% (6370) from the previous year. 

More worryingly, the full impact of Covid-19 on the number of long-term empty homes is still emerging, and the figures may continue to rise for some time.

SEHP are also concerned the pandemic has placed Scotland’s ability to deliver 50,000 new affordable homes at risk and believe empty homes can provide a cost-effective way of providing much needed affordable homes after the pandemic.  The average cost of returning an empty home to a habitable state is between £6,000 and £12,000, ten times less than the average cost of building a new home.

Furthermore, bringing empty homes back into use can provide a vital income stream to businesses and the local economy. 

Scottish Government figures show that every £1 spent on renovating property in Scotland generates £1.60 for the economy.  This is because someone repairing or renovating an empty home are likely to be hiring local builders and purchasing materials from local suppliers. This money is then further invested in the local economy.

Shaheena Din, National Project Manager for Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, said: “Images of empty homes came to symbolise economic decline and the loss of vibrant communities across Scotland in the 1980s and recent figures show the Covid crisis is already causing more empty homes in Scotland.

“We must act now to ensure empty homes do not become a legacy of the pandemic.  By investing in dedicated empty home services, councils can help make homes available for those who need them, improve local communities and deliver a much-needed boost to local economies.”

“No area is immune so we need the 11 councils without a dedicated service to create one urgently, and for all local authorities to prioritise support for bringing empty homes back in to use as part of their recovery and rebuilding plans.”