Figures from government body National Records Scotland show 112,300 properties – 4.2 per cent of all dwellings – are unoccupied at any one time. That’s almost one for every 20 Scottish homes.
Of that total, 15,912 have lain empty for between six and 12 months, and 27,584 for more than a year.
An estimated 130,000 people in Scotland are homeless or on waiting lists.
The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) believes 44,000 homes could be brought back into use if councils were to use compulsory purchase orders to buy and repair the vacant properties.
SEHP’s Shaheena Din said, “Some owners are unwilling to return their home to use, cannot be traced or are difficult to engage with. We believe compulsory purchase orders should be used more widely to prevent homes from being left to deteriorate when Scotland desperately needs more homes.”
The number of long-term empty houses in Scotland is seven per cent higher than in 2019. The cities with the highest number last year were Edinburgh with 6180, Aberdeen with 6006 and Glasgow with 2958.
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