Houses that lie empty for long periods are not good for neighbours, the local community, and above all else, the 150,000 people in Scotland who, according to the housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, are on the waiting list for a home.
However, the annual report published by the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP), which is funded by the Scottish Government and facilitated by Shelter Scotland, reveals that although almost 700 private empty properties were identified and brought back into use in the last year alone, more needs to be done to address the problem given that there are currently around 34,000 long-term private empty homes in Scotland.
Among its recommendations, SEHP is calling for legislation of a Compulsory Sale Order power for vacant and derelict land and properties that would allow local authorities to force owners who fail to bring their property up to a standard and back into use, to sell on the open market.
Source: heraldscotland