HIRING new workers to bring Scotland’s empty homes back into use is a “vital” step in tackling the nation’s housing emergency, SNP housing secretary Mairi McAllan said today.

Ms McAllan made the remarks as she announced that nine of Scotland’s 32 local authorities had agreed to use their share of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership’s £2 million funding over the coming year to recruit specialists for the task.

More than 43,500 homes were registered as being empty for six months or more in September last year – 73 per cent of which had lain unused for over a year.

This is despite a backlog of 16,634 households – including 10,360 children – living in temporary accommodation and 17,424 households assessed as being either homeless or threatened with homelessness between April and September 2024.

Ms McAllan, who took on the housing brief after it was elevated to a cabinet post last month, said: “Bringing homes back into use is a vital part of our plan to tackle the housing emergency.

“When too many families are struggling to find somewhere to live, it is unacceptable to me that houses should lie empty.”

Welcoming the commitment, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership national manger Tahmina Nizam said: “Every home matters as we work together to end Scotland’s housing emergency.

“In councils across the country empty homes officers are delivering results, with over 11,000 homes having brought back into use since 2010.

“The additional posts supported by this funding will expand on that vital work. 

“Homes weren’t built to sit empty – every empty home has the potential to transform a family or individual’s life, but collectively they have an enormous role to play in reducing housing need and tackling the housing emergency.”

Focusing on his calls for a renewed drive for new-build affordable homes however, Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: ”It is all very well for Mairi McAllan to talk the talk on this issue, but it is absolutely vital that she steps up and delivers.

“We must not forget that more than 16,000 households, including over 10,000 children, were stuck living in temporary accommodation as of last year.

“That is the human cost of this housing emergency and it underlines why it is so important to tackle this issue.”