Scotland has announced a further £700,000 in empty homes funding, to help ten councils bring vacant properties back into use as affordable housing or temporary accommodation. The Scottish Government confirmed the allocation on Thursday 29 October 2026, saying local authorities can use it to establish or expand grants towards necessary repairs and refurbishment.
The announcement coincides with a reported record 2,285 formerly empty homes returned to use in Scotland during 2025-26. That figure comes from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership’s annual survey, quoted by ministers at the Partnership’s conference in Glasgow. It describes properties returned to occupation, not newly built dwellings or homes secured by this latest £700,000 allocation.
For property owners, housing associations and councils, the significant development is the prospect of targeted help to make difficult renovations viable. The detail matters: the government has not yet identified all ten recipient councils or published a universal grant amount, eligibility test or application date. Any owner considering works should check the relevant local authority scheme rather than assume the money is immediately available.
Where the empty homes funding will go
The government’s 29 October announcement says the £700,000 will be split across ten local authorities and may be used to start or extend grant schemes for people who own empty properties. The express purpose is to support repairs and refurbishment so homes can be occupied again. That is a more targeted intervention than a general subsidy for buying or building homes.
The £700,000 is additional to funding already committed, bringing the Scottish Government’s investment in this area to £2 million for the current year. In other words, the headline is not a new £2.7 million pot. Nor does dividing £700,000 by ten establish an individual council allocation: the announcement does not say that each council will receive an equal share.
A council-run scheme might need to balance the cost of particular repairs against the benefit of securing an occupied home. However, the new empty homes funding announcement does not prescribe identical award sizes, qualifying building conditions or rental obligations. It is important to distinguish the national allocation from the detailed rules that the individual participating councils will publish or administer.
Record 2,285 empty properties returned to use
Ministers say 2,285 empty homes came back into active use in 2025-26, compared with 2,066 in 2024-25. That is an increase of 219 homes, or roughly 11 per cent, on the previous year. Scottish Government figures also say more than 15,000 properties have been returned to use through the Partnership approach since 2010.
Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing, said: “We want everyone in Scotland to be able to have a warm, safe and affordable place to call home.” She emphasised that building new housing remains central to the government’s supply approach, while existing vacant properties also have a role in meeting housing need.
Those are results reported for an established programme, not a forecast for the new allocation. It would be misleading to claim that £700,000 will directly produce another 2,285 occupied homes. The record figure relates to activity across 2025-26 and a range of work by local authorities, owners and the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, rather than to a single tranche of grant funding.
Why some empty homes need financial intervention
An empty home is not necessarily a development opportunity waiting for a builder. The underlying difficulties may be an expensive roof, persistent damp, obsolete services, inaccessible ownership arrangements or work that is difficult to finance before the property generates rent or sale proceeds. Some homes can be brought back into use with modest repairs; others need a much larger package of work.
The value of empty homes funding is in addressing the gap where otherwise viable accommodation remains unused because essential work cannot proceed. Grants may help an owner meet the upfront costs, particularly where the eventual use offers a social benefit. The economics still need to be considered: a grant that covers only a small fraction of major structural work may not be sufficient to unlock a property.
It also matters what happens afterwards. A home returned to use for affordable rent is not the same as a refurbished property held vacant again or sold without any continuing housing benefit. The new national announcement identifies affordable housing and temporary accommodation among intended outcomes, but it does not itself set a uniform affordability period for every recipient.
Planning permission and building standards are separate questions
An owner should not treat the availability of an empty homes grant as proof that the intended building work or future occupation has planning consent. Reoccupying a dwelling with an established lawful residential use may involve no material change of use, but extensions, external alterations, subdivision, conversion or changes to a different type of accommodation can raise separate planning issues.
Listed buildings and conservation areas may involve additional controls over the appearance or fabric of a property. Building standards, including the potential need for a building warrant, must be considered independently of planning permission. The correct position depends on the actual building, its lawful use, the proposed works and any relevant local designation.
Scotland’s system is not identical to England’s permitted development regime. Owners should start with the Planning Geek guide to planning in Scotland and the relevant council’s guidance rather than importing English Class MA or other GPDO assumptions. Extra empty homes funding does not relax a statutory control simply because the refurbishment has a desirable housing outcome.
The council tax position may also influence decisions
Scotland’s empty homes policy guidance describes council tax measures that can affect the cost of holding a property vacant, including additional charges on some homes empty for more than twelve months. Local councils make decisions within the applicable rules, so individual liabilities and reliefs require checking against the relevant authority.
Those carrying costs are part of the refurbishment calculation, alongside purchase price, contractor availability, surveys, energy improvements and financing. The timing of an empty homes funding award could be important for an owner seeking to fund major works. A promise of possible support is not the same thing as a grant approval or a realistic cash-flow plan.
The government’s policy also identifies empty homes officers as a route for owners who need help bringing properties back into use. In practice, early discussion with the council can help establish whether the property falls within a local scheme and whether any planning, listed-building or building standards consent should be pursued before work starts.
What happens next for owners and councils
For now, the named new development is an allocation to ten councils, not a Scotland-wide application portal with identical conditions. I would expect the practical questions to concern which councils receive funding, when schemes open, what types of repairs qualify, the level of any owner contribution and how long a home must remain in the intended use. None of those details should be guessed from the announcement.
Councils will also need to report outcomes honestly. Grants awarded, renovations started and homes genuinely occupied are three different measures. Similarly, counting homes brought back into use can help show progress without claiming that each one directly reduces the number of households in temporary accommodation or meets an affordable housing need in precisely the same way.
The empty homes funding announcement is encouraging because it addresses existing housing stock at a time when Scotland is under pressure to increase supply. But it is not a substitute for new homes, planning permissions or building standards compliance. The best test will be how many long-empty properties receive effective support, are repaired and remain in beneficial occupation. The Scottish Government announcement and national policy page are the primary sources for the current position.
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