Question reference: S6W-00751
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 15 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many empty commercial properties there have been in each local authority in the South Scotland parliamentary region, in each year since 2011.
Answer
The following table shows the number of properties receiving a non-domestic rates relief or exemption from rates for unoccupied properties since 2011, except for 2014 and 2017 as no data is available for those years. The figures are as at the snapshot date and may therefore underestimate final numbers of recipients in a given year, and include entire local authority areas as data by parliamentary region is not held.
Data for 2021 is expected to become available in late 2021.
Local Authority | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 400 | 590 | 590 | 560 | 520 | 540 | 490 | 460 |
East Ayrshire | 400 | 450 | 440 | 290 | 330 | 190 | 190 | 160 |
East Lothian * | 290 | 270 | 230 | 230 | 210 | 260 | 260 | 280 |
Midlothian * | 140 | 260 | 260 | 190 | 190 | 140 | 200 | 120 |
Scottish Borders | 650 | 640 | 580 | 560 | 570 | 530 | 510 | 460 |
South Ayrshire | 480 | 480 | 430 | 420 | 410 | 350 | 290 | 280 |
South Lanarkshire * | 1,100 | 1,070 | 900 | 850 | 600 | 300 | 250 | 10 |
Data: Billing System Snapshots provided to the Scottish Government by local authorities.
* Some parts of these local authorities, included in the table above, are not part of the South Scotland parliamentary region.
"Properties" refers to subjects listed as separate entries in the Valuation Roll, and includes shops, offices, warehouses, but also self-catering properties, properties that do not necessarily contain buildings, etc. Figures exclude properties for which the rateable value is zero.
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Reliefs and exemptions for empty properties are typically cancelled by local authorities at the beginning of each financial year, with ratepayers required to reapply. Therefore these figures are likely to underestimate the full number of unoccupied properties as at the snapshot dates.
The snapshot dates are: 31 March 2011, 17 May 2012, 1 October 2013, 1 October 2015, 5 October 2016, 1 June 2018, 31 May 2019, and 1 July 2020.