A Glasgow empty homes 'target squad' should be set up to get abandoned properties back into use according to a councillor.
Councillor Soryia Siddique, Labour, also warned £11.4 million Scottish Government funding to make homes more energy efficient has gone unspent in the city since 2017 to 2018.
The politician is due to put forward a motion at a full council meeting this week calling for the local authority to set up a "Glasgow Empty Homes Working Group."
READ MORE: Lack of Glasgow social housing leading to £5 million homelessness overspend
It is to be led by the council with representation from Wheatley Group and other housing associations, the Health and Social Care Partnership, charities and others and should come up with a draft action plan.
It should also lay out ways to make sure Energy Efficiency Scotland: Area Based Schemes (EES:ABS) funding is being spent and identify skills gaps in the Glasgow workforce to ensure that as many "citizens as possible are able to take advantage of the opportunities presented by retrofitting and the implementation of energy efficiency measures."
A recent meeting heard there are about 2480 empty homes in Glasgow and the owners are to be contacted by the council as part of a mission to bring them back into use.
Councillor Siddique's motion said the supply of housing association homes needs to be ramped up.
It pointed out the number of empty homes is likely to increase during the current cost of living crisis with renters and mortgaged home owners facing pressure and homelessness being a “continuing challenge.”
It said rising energy costs, which adds to pressures faced by renters and homeowners alike, “demonstrates the moral and financial imperative to scale-up retrofitting and energy efficiency measures.”
The motion said: "council is therefore disappointed to note that between 2017/18 and 2021/22, this council has only spent 52 per cent of the Energy Efficiency Scotland: Area Based Schemes (EES:ABS) funding available to it - meaning that £11.4 million has gone unspent in the city.”
It said “this lost funding represents a significant missed opportunity for the city and its citizens.”
The motion also noted "the success of the national Empty Homes Partnership which led to the creation of several Empty Homes Officers and the Empty Homes Strategy. However, council believes that these efforts need to be stepped up and further supported in the face of the current crisis."
Councillors will consider the motion on Thursday.
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