Council urges empty home owners to sell properties

Thousands of owners of empty homes in Glasgow are being asked to sell or rent the properties to help with the city’s housing emergency.

Glasgow City Council has written to the owners of more than 2,500 vacant properties asking them to bring them back into use.

The local authority said it currently had around 7,000 homeless applications and over 4,000 households using temporary accommodation.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, the city council’s convener for housing and development, said the current situation was “not sustainable” in the long-term.

The letters will explain to the owners what help is available to either sell or rent the properties, and ask them to take action.

Cllr Kelly said: “The supply of new housing has not kept pace with demand for decades – with the result that we currently have around 7,000 homeless applications and in excess of 4,000 households living in temporary accommodation.

“At the same time, more than 2,500 homes in the city are lying empty. That’s not sustainable.

“I’ve got an obligation – and a moral responsibility – to pursue any resource I can that might increase the supply of housing in the city. Addressing the thousands of vacant properties in Glasgow could be one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways of making a major impact.”

Glasgow declared a housing emergency in 2023 due to what it said was “unprecedented pressures”.

A national housing emergency was then announced for the whole country in May 2024.

Cllr Kelly said he understood there were “all sorts of reasons” why the homes may have fallen out of use, and that the local authority could provide different types of assistance, including help securing repairs or renovation.