There are hundreds of Edinburgh Council homes lying empty across the city due to major improvements, fire damage and properties which are in the process of being re-let.
The city council deals with over 20,000 housing applications every year and manages thousands of properties.
A Freedom of Information request found that currently there are 861 empty council properties at the moment, the largest amount of empty council houses are in the north east of the city that has 202 properties empty because they are going through major improvement works or are fire damaged.
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The number of empty properties is split into three categories, including 'programmed homes' which are homes that are undergoing major improvement works like structural repairs, fire damaged properties and major adaptations.
"Provisional voids' are homes that have just become vacant and 'confirmed voids' - properties that are actively being repaired and re-let.
In total there are 307 empty properties in the North East of the city, 185 in the North West, 153 in the South East and 216 in the South West.
The council and the city's housing associations have agreed to commit investment to build 20,000 new affordable and low cost ownership homes over the next ten years.
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The ten-year housing plan is currently on track and there are over 2,100 homes under construction on 34 sites across the city.
Earlier this year Edinburgh Live reported that residents are waiting more than 18 months on the council housing list, the data showed that as of October 1, 2021 there were 21,480 applicants on the common register for housing Edinburgh. This includes housing association and council waiting lists.
Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener said: “We’re working hard to bring all of our homes up to a high standard before tenants move in. Our repairs service has been really impacted by Covid restrictions and staff needing to isolate. Demand for tradespeople has been high, the shipping and sourcing of trade materials remains difficult and utilities firms - which we rely on to supply gas, water and electricity - have faced similar delays.
“At times we’ve really had to prioritise which improvements we carry out during the pandemic, focusing first and foremost on our most vulnerable tenants and emergency call outs. We’ve had a greater turnaround in properties since people were able to start moving again, which has meant some homes have been listed as empty while we get them ready for new tenants. And it’s important that before new tenants move in, we take some time to make them suitable and in many cases more accessible to meet people’s needs, and then support tenants as they settle in, which can help to sustain tenancies for the long term.
“There will always be some homes in the process of being upgraded or made ready for new tenants, but we’re determined to bring them back into use as soon as possible. We’ve successfully refurbished and returned 1,182 properties over the last 10 months.”
