Nearly 2,000 homes in Edinburgh sitting empty amid growing demand for housing

Nearly 2,000 homes in Edinburgh are sitting empty amid growing demand for housing in the city.
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The council has received 143 reports of unoccupied privately-owned properties since the start of the year, bringing the current total to 1,950, new figures revealed.

Officials said the increase of 233 since last November continues an “upward trend which has been observed over the last five years”.

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They added that while this reflects a national trend, the council’s empty homes officer has been tasked with investigating the increase with an aim to intervene and “assist owners to bring these properties back in to use”.

Number of empty homes has increased since 2021Number of empty homes has increased since 2021
Number of empty homes has increased since 2021

A report on the latest empty home statistics for Edinburgh highlighted that housing supply in the capital “remains under pressure in the wake of the pandemic and increasing demand”.

It comes days after calls from a leading letting agent to tackle the city's housing crisis, sparked by concerns that soaring numbers on social housing waiting lists could further

exacerbate existing shortages of homes.

Edinburgh Council’s empty homes officer Tom Veitch said the year-on-year increase in the number of unoccupied homes is “partly due to the pandemic”.

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He added: “Other things include stuff like increasing cost and the availability of both labour and materials in terms of bringing some of these homes back into use and finally

probably the pressures of the financial crisis around cost of living, higher mortgage rates and that increased financial caution from investors and home buyers.”

“This, together with the economic pressures of rising inflation and interest rates, will continue to put people at the risk of homelessness,” it added.

“Any increase in housing stock contributes to mitigating these risks in Edinburgh.”

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When the authority identifies empty an home, it can seek to purchase it from the owner or in some cases acquire it through a compulsory purchase order.

Analysis of a sample of 61 properties brought back into use since the beginning of this year showed the majority were returned as either owner occupied properties or privately let

homes, with just six per cent taken over by the council or housing associations.

Furthermore, the council has identified nearly £1 million of unpaid council tax arising from empty homes, which the council will seek to recover to continue funding the empty homes officer (EHO) role.

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