A new online portal has been launched to bring empty
homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with
the aim of facilitating more properties to be used
as homes again.
Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success
of local pilots, referred to as “matchmaker schemes”,
which allow owners of empty homes to
upload details of their properties to
a website through which anyone, such as first
time buyers, families, developers or local
authorities, can make purchasing
enquiries.
The portal is hosted by the Scottish Empty Homes
Partnership and has been developed as part of a £2
million investment this year to
recruit additional empty homes officers and fund
initiatives that will accelerate the pace and numbers
of empty homes that are brought back into
use.
Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said:
“If you have an empty home to sell, this new portal is for you.
"Making best use of existing housing stock is central to
tackling the housing emergency. Bringing owners
and buyers together is a great way of adding to
the overall housing supply, be that for affordable housing
or use on the private market and it complements our ambitious
house building programme.
“We are already making progress in turning around empty
properties. Over the past 15 years we have helped return
almost 13,000 privately owned homes to
use and last year we saw 2,066 homes brought
back in a single year, the highest in a year to
date.
“I would encourage anyone who has a home lying empty to use this
new scheme and seek advice from the Scottish Empty Homes
Partnership and their local council to bring their home
back into use.”
Tahmina Nizam, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership National Manager,
said:
“Every home matters in our collective fight against the
housing emergency, so we're delighted to launch this
brand-new matchmaker scheme.
"We know selling an empty home can be a daunting task; the
matchmaker scheme is designed to make that process easier and to
help get more homes back into productive use.
"We want anyone who owns an empty home to know that support is
available, either from the network of dedicated local empty homes
officers working in local authorities across the country or
directly from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership.
"No home was built to sit empty and it's vital that we make the
best possible use of the assets we already have. Every individual
empty property could provide a safe and secure place for someone
to call home, but collectively Scotland's empty homes can make a
huge contribution to ending the housing emergency.”
Background
Matchmaker Scheme for Empty
Homes in Scotland - Scotland Empty Homes Partnership
Properties can be listed free of charge.
Local schemes currently exist in Aberdeenshire,
the Borders, Fife, East Lothian, Argyll and
Bute, Orkney and South Ayrshire. The majority
will wind down their schemes in place of this new national
portal. Aberdeen City will continue their local
scheme.
Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, it is a legal requirement
for any property which is being actively marketed for sale to
have a home report. As such, owners can list their property on
the portal without a home report but must not enter any
negotiations with potential purchasers prior to obtaining
one.
If a property is for sale through an estate agent, the asking
price must not diverge from what is included on the
portal.
