Edward Mountain criticises 356 council houses standing empty in Highland

A local MSP has slammed the Highland Council following his investigation into the state of their social housing.

Edward Mountain revealed in Parliament on Wednesday that there are currently 356 vacant council houses standing empty in Highland. These houses could be used to alleviate the national housing emergency which was declared in May by the Scottish Government, and debated in the Chamber on Thursday.

Edward Mountain’s research shows that 148 of the 356 empty houses have been deserted since before the end of May 2024, and that 20 of these have been empty since before the end of 2022. One property was vacated in March 2015, and has therefore not been occupied for almost 10 years.

The repairs required to bring these 356 empty homes up to a habitable standard are estimated to cost a total of £618,699.89. The bulk of these costs are in Inverness Central (£94,251.69) which has the most council houses in Highland, though Culloden and Ardersier has social housing in the worst condition – 11 properties there require repairs averaging £6,643.13 per home.

Edward Mountain also highlighted the issue of money wasted by the Highland Council on the council tax for which they are liable on empty properties; since April, they have paid £168,754.44.

Furthermore, over half of all the council houses in Highland don’t reach EPC C. It could cost over £300 million to bring these homes up to the standard, which will be required as a minimum from 2032.

Earlier in the week, Edward raised the issue of private rental accommodation in the Chamber. Private lets recently dropped from 360,000 to 300,000 properties due to a lack of stability in Scottish Government letting law. Up to 10 developers have consequently moved south of the border, citing the risks of building in Scotland.

Scottish Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain said:

“I am appalled at the state of social housing in the Highlands, and at the lack of effort by the Highland Council to utilise their existing resources to solve this problem.

“Last week it was revealed that there were 1,383 homelessness applications in Highland in 2023/24. The figures come as Scotland sees the highest ever statistics for the number of live homelessness applications. As of January, 500 Highland households were living in homeless temporary accommodation, and 9,959 people are on the waiting list for a social home.

“Why is the council not investing in these 356 unoccupied homes – which have been vacant for up to 8 years – to alleviate the dual housing and homelessness crises which are ruining the lives of so many Highlanders?

“There is clearly a housing crisis in Highland which is being dealt with very poorly, and which appears to be mirrored Scotland-wide. I was pleased to be given the opportunity to highlight this in the chamber, and to provide some suggested solutions for its alleviation.”