Scottish Empty Homes Partnership funding and statistics: FOI release

Information requested

Question 1

a) In 2025-26, how much has the Empty Homes Partnership spent?

b) Please provide as much detail as possible on what funding has been spent on.

Question 2

a) In 2025-26 so far, how many empty homes have been brought back into use?

b) Please break down by local authority.

Response

Question 1

a) In 2025-26, the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership has drawn down its full £2,000,000 grant allocation.

b) The funding has been allocated as follows:

Strand 1 - Scottish Empty Homes Partnership - core funding and activity costs

Strand 2 - additional empty homes officer capacity in the following councils:

• Aberdeen City
• Aberdeenshire
• Angus
• City of Edinburgh
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Dundee City
• East Lothian
• Fife
• Highland
• Midlothian
• Moray
• North Lanarkshire
• Orkney
• Scottish Borders
• Shetland

Strand 3 - national and local initiative projects with the following organisations:

• National Compulsory Purchase Hub (for empty home cases) hosted by Aberdeenshire Council and in conjunction with the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators (SOLAR).
• National Matchmaker Scheme hosted by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership.
• Fife Council & Rock Trust – the project aims to acquire empty homes for return to active use and to provide young people with lived experience of homelessness the opportunity to gain renovation skills.
• Blue Triangle – the project aims to work with five local authorities to acquire empty homes for return to active use as specialised supported housing for vulnerable people.
• Argyll and Bute - phase 2 of their empty homes key-worker housing project.
• South of Scotland Community Housing - empty homes key-worker housing project.
• Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils – the project aims to develop better systems and tools that support local authorities to target empty homes in areas where there is greatest housing need.

Question 2

a) The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership publish the numbers of empty homes returned use in their annual reports, which are available from 2010-11 to 2024-25 at: Publications & Annual Reports Scottish Empty Homes Partnership. The total number of empty homes reported back into use in the first six months of 2025/26 is 1,173. This information is gathered informally from the empty homes officer network. The total figure for 2025/26 will be available in the latter half of 2026 when the next Scottish Empty Homes Partnership annual report is published.

b) The 1,173 figure is broken down by local authority as follows:

Local authority*	No. homes returned to use from 1 April 2025 to 31 September 2025
Aberdeen City	33
Aberdeenshire	4
Angus	2
Argyll & Bute
Comhairle na Eilean Siar	32
Dumfries & Galloway	5
Dundee City	19
East Ayrshire	15
East Dunbartonshire	33
East Lothian	0
East Renfrewshire	16
Edinburgh, City of	44
Falkirk	8
Fife	113
Glasgow	463
Highland	7
Inverclyde	3
North Ayrshire	188
North Lanarkshire	10
Orkney	14
Perth & Kinross	50
Renfrewshire	4
Scottish Borders	24
South Ayrshire	10
South Lanarkshire	9
Stirling
West Dunbartonshire	15
West Lothian	52
Totals	1173

*no returned were received from Argyll & Bute and Stirling councils

Please note that under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.