Calls to help turn empty houses into homes

Charity looks to councils

EDEL KENEALY

More than 100 properties in Rutherglen and Cambuslang have lain empty for more than a year, as a homelessness charity says more can be done to bring them back into use.

As of last month, there were 112 long-term empty properties across the two towns and a further 117 awaiting demolition.

The properties account for approximately 15 per cent of all unoccupied houses in South Lanarkshire.

In 2018 a total of 725 properties in the county were empty for 12 months or more, with a further 928 having been empty for more than six months.

Shelter Scotland says tackling the empty homes problem means tackling the current crisis in housing, with 16,025 people currently waiting for a house in South Lanarkshire.

Shaheena Din, from Shelter’s Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP), said: “Leaving property empty long-term is a waste when the country is in the grip of a housing emergency.

“By taking a strategic approach to empty homes councils can increase housing supply and strengthen communities.

“The most successful approach to date is for councils to employ dedicated empty homes officers who can work with owners and others to bring properties back into use.”

SEHP brought more than 1000 homes back into use in the 2018/19 financial year.

Its team work with empty homes officers in 20 local authorities across Scotland, including South Lanarkshire, and last year 1128 properties became homes again. Daniel Lowe, executive director of housing and technical resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “The development and private sector team within housing services deals with long-term empty home enquiries on a case by case basis, working closely with other council departments and the SEHP to sign post owners to appropriate sources for advice and information on how to bring their property back into use.”

South Lanarkshire Council’s policy also applies a 100 per cent surcharge on long-term empty properties, meaning landlords are charged double council tax if their property is empty for more than 12 months.

But SEHP has issued a warning to councils not to enforce additional charges too hastily, arguing it could, in some instances, be a barrier to bringing the home back into use.

Ms Din said: “Discretion should also be applied to council tax charges where an owner is taking positive steps to bring homes back into use to avoid a situation where paying the tax makes renovation unaffordable.”

She added: “Councils applying the council tax levy should earmark a proportion of the vacant dwelling council tax levy to fund an empty homes service.

“We have found that 93 per cent of properties reported back into use are in local authorities where they have a dedicated empty homes officer.”

National Records of Scotland data from 2017 has shown that four per cent of the dwellings in Scotland are unoccupied.

The Scottish Government’s local government and communities committee launched an investigation earlier this year to find out why the number is so high and how it can be reversed.