Number of council houses lying empty at near two-decade high

The number of council houses lying empty has remained at its highest level for almost two decades, statistics show.

Some 11,751 local authority homes were recorded as being vacant as of March this year.

The vacancy rate has been unchanged at 3.6% since 2022 and is the highest on record since 2005 when 3.8% of council properties were empty.

The figure includes 1,645 homes awaiting demolition, 3,239 being modernised, 783 properties used for temporary accommodation and 452 in “low demand areas”.

However, the number of normal-use council houses – those used for permanent lettings – is at its highest level in more than 20 years.

As of March this year, 1.9% of such homes were vacant – the same rate as last year as well as the previous record in 2000.

Overall, 5,640 houses used for permanent council lettings were vacant as of March.

There were 325,477 local authority houses recorded – an increase of 1% since last year.

Meanwhile, separate statistics released by the Scottish Government on Tuesday show there were 43,538 homes of all types lying empty for more than six months as of September 2024.

Of these, 31,596 (73%) were left vacant for more than 12 months – an increase of 12% compared to last year.

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