The City of Edinburgh Council has made significant progress in returning long‑term empty homes to use, as councillors approve a new five‑year Empty Homes Strategy to accelerate efforts across the city.
Over the past year, 81 privately owned empty properties were brought back into use, bringing the total since 2023 to 149. The work forms a central part of Edinburgh’s response to its housing emergency, declared in November 2023 amid rising homelessness, acute shortages of social housing and mounting pressure on temporary accommodation.
Bringing empty properties back into use is a priority action within the Council’s Housing Emergency Action Plan, with efforts increasingly focused on supporting homeless households.
To strengthen its capacity, the Council recently recruited two additional Empty Homes Officers and a Housing Development Officer. The expanded team has enabled:
- More effective early identification of empty properties
- Direct engagement with owners to speed up reoccupation
- Faster, more reliable routes to return homes to use
- Stronger alignment with homelessness prevention work
Progress to date includes providing early advice to owners whose properties have been empty for nearly a year, participating in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership matchmaker scheme, and developing proposals for a new grant scheme linked to the Council’s Private Sector Leasing programme.
The proposed PSL‑linked grant would help owners complete repairs and make properties lettable. This would expand the stock of temporary accommodation available in the city, helping reduce pressure on emergency placements such as B&Bs.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener at the City of Edinburgh Council, Cllr Tim Pogson, said:
“We’re committed to addressing the issue of empty homes across the city, to make sure that more properties are brought back into use and contribute to our housing stock.
“There are a variety of reasons why properties become empty, from legal and financial issues to personal circumstances and market dynamics. Our Empty Homes Team focuses on advising owners about their options, including selling their property or becoming a private landlord, helping to make more homes available to buyers and renters.
“With 149 homes made available since 2023 it’s great that people and families now have homes they would otherwise not have had, but there is still much more to do. We estimate there are over 3,000 empty homes in the city, with around 2,500 empty for more than twelve months. That is why we will continue to build on what has already been a very successful approach and encourage owners of empty homes to contact the Council for support to bring their property back into use.”
Councillors have now approved the Empty Homes Strategy and Annual Report at the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee. The strategy sets out a strengthened approach for the next five years, focusing on:
- Earlier identification of empty homes
- Targeted, tailored support for owners
- Use of legal powers, where appropriate, to return properties to use
- Stronger collaboration across council services
- Increasing the supply of homes available to households in crisis
The strategy aims to achieve faster turnaround times, improve the city’s housing stock and reduce reliance on costly temporary accommodation.
The Empty Homes Strategy complements wider measures underway to tackle the city’s housing emergency, including increasing affordable housing supply, expanding prevention and early-intervention services, and reducing dependency on high-cost emergency accommodation.
The final strategy will now guide the Council’s work to bring more properties back into use, supporting vulnerable households and helping Edinburgh build a more sustainable, resilient housing system.
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