§ Lord Selkirk of Douglasasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the latest estimate of the total number of empty homes in Scotland: and what plans they have to bring them back into use.[HL1780]
§ Lord Macdonald of TradestonI refer the noble Lord to the report of the 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey, a copy of which is in the Library. The survey estimated that there were some 109,000 empty houses in Scotland, representing 5 per cent. of the total housing stock. Of these, 64,000 were estimated to be empty temporarily while the property was being sold or re-let, 34,000 were estimated to be empty in the longer term, with the status of the remainder being unknown.
The Government launched its Empty Homes Initiative in 1997 to help local authorities to tackle the problem of empty housing. This initiative encourages councils to assess the scale and nature of the problem in their areas and develop appropriate strategies. It also provides funding to help local authorities bring empty properties back into use to meet housing need. Altogether a total of £24 million has been provided to Scottish local authorities and details of projects to be funded through the third round of the initiative, covering the period 1999–2000 to 2001–02, were announced recently.