Empty Homes
Holiday homes, investment properties, air BnB lets... how many homes in Scotland and the UK are empty for over 6 months of the year?
Right now some people with second homes are using them to isolate and socially distance. They are putting pressure on resources which is out of line with what should be expected and they've been asked not to do this, but there they are, away from their regular home and now basically, on holiday.
And whilst the well-off are relaxing in their second homes, many thousands are beginning (if not already) to struggle with rents and many more will never be able to set a foot on the rung of the property ladder.
I would love to know just how many properties are empty for long periods (or always) and how much those homes contribute to the local communities on average and whether this is a sustainable way to treat housing stock.
If we all just had one home, could we solve the housing crisis and reduce the need to build when we don't have much capital?
Comments: 4
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01 Oct, '20
Nici BoniLand reform, especially regarding empty houses, which litter the Isle of Arran and many other places in Scotland, requires being addressed with some urgency, I feel.
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04 Feb
Rosie MackenzieI live in a rural area north of Inverness. It seems that COVID lockdowns have added to this problem. Friends have told me that over the last few months when young people put in a bid for a local property they are outbid by as much as £20,000 by someone buying a second home.
If people want to move here from the city, that is fine but buying a second home for lockdowns is so selfish.
I feel that owning a second home, visiting it for a week or two each year is a very selfish use of a property. They should just rent for those few weeks. I don't think second homes should be allowed if they only stay there for a few weeks in the year. -
24 Feb
Amanda HendersonI live in a small town where there is very little affordable housing for first time buyers. In my block of 6 flats, one of the ground floor properties is vacant and derelict. I am told the owner refuses to sell because his ex-wife will be entitled to 50% of the proceeds and so a perfectly good property goes to ruin. And his neighbours must suffer the disgusting eyesore of rotting window frames and doors, and a totally unkempt jungle garden, right next to their own tidy, clean, well-cared for homes.
His spitefulness towards his ex-wife should not be allowed to affect so many people and deny a home for someone. A forced-sale to council ownership would provide the solution, and provide employment to the tradesmen required to improve it and make it habitable again. If this policy could be run out across Scotland I'm sure we'd love to see small homes occupied and generating rent for councils, instead of privately owned vacant eyesores. -
13 Apr
Nicola UnderdownLocal Authorities have the power to charge 200% council tax on these type of properties, and yet, in Highland at least they do not do this. It would be good to know if this is the position across all local authority areas and why, and how much Revenues Local Authorities are potentially missing out by not implementing a 200% charge on these properties.