Letter to Registered Social Landlords - collection of information on empty homes / voids
Dear colleague,
The Scottish Government has asked us to collect on its behalf information from all Registered Social Landlords on empty homes / voids. This is to provide the Scottish Government with up to date information on empty homes / voids in social housing, and to allow it to better understand the potential contribution of bringing empty homes / voids back in to use in tackling the housing emergency. The Scottish Government’s request follows its discussions with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Glasgow & West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations.
We ask that you provide us with the following data by local authority area as at 28 February 2025:
1. Total number of self-contained dwellings
2. Total number of self-contained dwellings that are empty
3. Broken down by:
- Number of normal lettable self-contained dwellings that are empty
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are empty pending disposal, demolition or reconfiguration
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are empty and subject to insurance claims
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are empty and undergoing or awaiting major repairs/structural works
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are being used as decants
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are empty and are in low demand
- Number of self-contained dwellings that are empty for other reasons
4. Comments – to allow landlords to provide appropriate context or explanations
Please download the Empty Homes return here and then once complete upload to the Documents area of the Social Landlord Portal. (Portal access will be required for upload, please speak to your Portal administrator if you require access.) We ask that RSLs which are part of a group submit a separate return for each RSL member of the group. We have aligned the return with the descriptions and calculations for indicator C9 in the Annual Return on the Charter Technical Guidance, which we published in January 2025.
We are aware that RSLs face a number of challenges to relet empty homes / voids quickly, including difficulties in getting utility companies to act promptly on renewing / resetting meters, the availability of contractors, labour and materials, and the poor condition that some departing tenants leave their homes in. Please use the comments box to tell us about any contextual factors relating to your management of empty homes / voids, including the barriers you face in letting empty homes / voids.
We ask that you provide this information by the end of 14 March 2025, but please let us know if you will not be able to provide us with the information by that date, and we can discuss with you options for submitting the information. We will aim to publish an analysis of the data as soon as possible after we have received it.
We will next collect information on the numbers of empty homes / voids as part of the Annual Return on the Charter to be submitted by social landlords from April 2026.
Thank you for your help on this, and please contact your lead regulator if you have any further questions on the collection.
Your sincerely,
Michael Cameron
Chief Executive