Housing

John Wilson (Scottish National Party) | Question S3W-40560

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it takes to monitor the performance of local authorities in relation to empty homes.

Alex Neil (Scottish National Party)

Bringing empty properties back into use is a matter for individual authorities. Where there are significant issues locally we would expect authorities to address these in their local housing strategies. However, a variety of information is collected and published on empty homes in Scotland.

Information on empty homes in Scotland is primarily collected through data from the council tax system. This information is provided by local authorities and includes data on how many properties are unoccupied, how many properties are long term empty, how much of a discount is offered for long empty properties and how much money is raised by reducing the 50% discount for long term empty properties. This includes data for both private and social sectors. Information is also collected on second homes through these data collections on council tax. Information on long-term empty housing is not routinely published but is available on request from the Statistical Support for Local Government team (lgfstats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk). More general council tax information can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Local-Government-Finance/DatasetsCouncilTax.

More information is also collected on vacancies specifically within local authority managed social properties. This information is also provided directly from local authorities and includes information on the number of vacancies, how long the properties have been vacant and the reasons why the properties are vacant. This information is published through the Housing Statistics for Scotland publication and can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk./Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/StockManagement.