Annual Impact Report 2024

1. Local authority letting services

Empty since 2018, this property was brought back into use to meet social housing need through South Ayrshire’s Social Letting Service, Your Choice. The Empty Homes Officer played a key role by identifying it as a potential candidate for the Your Choice service and persuading the owner to consider Your Choice as an option.

The owner purchased the property in 2021. It required significant renovation work for it to be brought back into use.

The owner carried out this work themselves and towards the end of the renovation work, unsure of the best way to rent the property out, they responded to a letter sent by South Ayrshire’s EHO which suggested considering Your Choice.

The EHO and the Accommodation Assistant from Your Choice collaborated to engage with the owner and to visit the property and assess its suitability for the scheme. The owner registered with the scheme, resulting in the property being let to an applicant experiencing homelessness in June 2023, alleviating the need for temporary accommodation and providing a long term, stable tenancy to a vulnerable person.

This case study is a perfect example of empty homes being a key part of the solution to tackling housing shortages.

The EHO and Your Choice continue to work together to identify further properties that can be brought back into use at affordable rent.

2. Inherited properties

The Scottish Empty Homes Advice Service (SEHAS) played a key role in supporting an owner of an empty home in the absence of an EHO. They were vital in facilitating the sale of the property to Homes For Good, a social enterprise private sector lettings agency specialising in providing homes for people on low incomes or benefits.

The owner contacted SEHAS after inheriting a property in need of extensive renovation and refurbishment, including upgrades to insulation and heating systems. Their desire was to reach a point where they could let the property socially, but with limited funds for renovation work this was unrealistic and they had begun to get overwhelmed.

Over the course of a number of phone calls, SEHAS were able to discuss suitable alternatives to letting out the property, and suggested the owner consider selling. Due to the positive relationship the SEHAS adviser had built with the owner, this suggestion was well received and led to SEHAS putting the owner in touch with Homes For Good who, after assessing the property, made an offer to buy.

The owner gladly accepted the offer. As Homes For Good’s model allows them to purchase and renovate properties at great pace, the property was soon on the market at an affordable rent and the owner was delighted his home had gone to a good cause.

3. Supporting regeneration

The Glentrool Regeneration project by SOSCH, saw three long term empty homes brought back into use in a rural community in Dumfries and Galloway. The area sits within Galloway Forest Park and is in a UNESCO biosphere reserve, meaning that it is an extremely remote and fragile community.

Three properties that had previously been used for social rent had been left empty for three years and had fallen into various states of disrepair. Before SOSCH stepped in, the properties were due to be advertised for sale, which worried the community who feared that the properties might become second homes, as well as removing their access to affordable housing.

SOSCH worked in partnership with Glentrool and Bargrennan Community Trust to assess local housing and community need. The previously empty homes now belong to the community, with each of the properties now let out to people with local connections who were previously unable to move into the community due to a lack of affordable housing. These new tenants are now contributing to the regeneration and long-term sustainability of the community.

Each property was retrofitted to low energy standards, ensuring lower energy bills and a more durable future for the tenants.

4. Tackling anti-social behaviour

A long-term empty home in North Lanarkshire was purchased by Homes for Good after being identified to them by Glasgow Credit Union following repossession. The home, which had been empty for 12 months, was in a bad state of disrepair and had been a source of anti-social behaviour in the community.

The property was causing concern and distress to the neighbour due to the damage it had caused to their property, including water ingress. The property was fully renovated (including the damage to the downstairs property), re-designed, and furnished by Homes for Good all within 3 months of purchase.

It was then rented out at an affordable, below market rate to a tenant in need of urgent housing. The tenant had recently gone through a relationship break up and needed somewhere immediate to move in to. Renovating and letting the property had a positive effect for the tenant who moved in, for the downstairs neighbour who had been negatively affected by the ongoing damage, and for the community who had been impacted by having an empty home on their street. It was also the beginning of a partnership between Homes for Good and Glasgow Credit Union that continues to identify empty homes to be brought back into use in this way.