Bringing unoccupied homes across Scotland back into use
could help ease the shortage of affordable housing, a charity has said.
Shelter Scotland has estimated that at least 27,000
privately-owned homes are lying empty.
But it said government figures showed
150,000 families were on waiting lists.
The charity said it had brought more than 1,200 properties
back into use by helping owners sell or refurbish them for rental but that more
could be done.
It has estimated the value of homes lying empty across the
country at more than £4.3bn, based on the average sale price of houses in
Scotland of £160,000.
Ahead of its annual conference the Scottish Empty Homes
Partnership (SEHP), which is run by Shelter and funded by the Scottish
government, said owners of private homes which had been empty for more than six
months should make more of their assets and bring much needed housing stock
back into use.
It said the scale of the problem was shown by figures which
revealed that 35,764 households made homelessness applications in 2014-15.
‘Tough times’
George Clarke, UK Empty Homes Adviser, said: “With
thousands of empty homes across Scotland, it’s a disgrace that so many families
are going without something as fundamental as a home of their own.
“I totally support the building of new homes, and we
should be building tens of thousands of them, but we need to look at other
options too.
“It’s cheaper and quicker to refurbish empty homes than
to build from scratch. It can be kinder to communities and the environment –
and it makes sense in these tough economic times.”
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said bringing
empty homes back into use represented great value for money.
But he said it also provided homes to families and
individuals who would otherwise struggle to afford a property of their own, or
would be forced into expensive private rents.
“Empty homes projects across Scotland helped over 1,000
families and individuals realise their dream of a home,” he said.
“We look forward to continuing our work alongside the
Scottish government and other partners, to bring life to empty properties
across Scotland and make them into homes again.”
The SEHP has launched a free national helpline for members of
the public to report empty homes and for owners to seek help in
renovating their properties.
Advice is also available about financial incentives –
available in over 20 local authority areas – to bring empty homes back into
use.
To date 22 councils have set themselves targets from
bringing private empty homes back into use.
