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Housing shortages in Scotland won’t be solved by utilising empty homes

Scottish housing shortages won’t be solved by bringing empty and second homes back into use according to DJ Alexander Ltd.

They have stated that the announcement by Housing secretary, Mairi McAllan looking to prevent “unacceptable” levels of empty homes in Scotland is worthy, it will not come close to resolving the current housing emergency.

Ms 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 so many houses are lying empty for long periods.” 

She is intending to fund more empty homes officers to bring privately owned houses back into use.

David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander Scotland, said: “There is little doubt that regenerating and reviving homes which have been empty for a substantial period of time can be beneficial for an area. A property that is an eyesore in a village, town or city can only be improved by renovation.”

“The concern is that by conflating the issue of the current housing shortage in Scotland with almost just over 28,000 homes empty for a year misses the point that even if all of these houses are put on the market immediately this will do little to alleviate the accumulated problems the country currently faces. In addition, a property being vacant for 12 months can mean almost nothing as this can be for multiple reasons as conceded by SEHP.”

Figures published by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) stated that in 2023/24 there were 46,217 homes empty for six months in Scotland, but this figure falls to 28,280 for homes that have been vacant for more than a year. The greatest number of homes empty for more than a year was in Highland which had 3,334, Edinburgh was next with 2,751, and Aberdeen had 2,615.

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