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Asked by:
Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged:
4 August 2021
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Current status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for reducing the number of empty homes.
Tackling empty homes remains a priority for the Scottish Government, even more so when people have been unable to take action to bring homes back into use due to the pandemic. We want to see all homes occupied and none left empty without good reason. Housing to 2040 makes a commitment to take forward a range of actions to make best use of our existing supply, including tackling the blight of empty homes.
Proposed key actions include:
- working with local authorities to audit empty homes and determine those that should be brought back into use;
- supporting the work of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership and continuing to roll out the approach across Scotland;
- giving councils the powers they need to regulate and charge owners appropriately for homes lying empty and ensuring they have the mechanisms to bring them back into productive use;
- creating a support package for homeowners in trouble to help them stay in their home, if that is right for them, and to prevent homes falling into disrepair or becoming empty in the first place; and
- establishing a new fund for local authorities to apply to use in order to bring empty homes and potential empty homes back into residential use and convert suitable empty commercial properties in town centres.