Two projects across the north have been included in the running for prestigious national awards for their efforts to bring homes – last occupied before the turn of the millennium – back into use.
In total, 16 finalists have been chosen with the homes in Orkney and the Western Isles among the candidates to win awards from the Scottish Empty Homes Champions of the Year ceremony.
Across the country, each year more than 1,000 privately-owned homes which have lain empty in the long-term are brought back into use.
And among the finalists, an empty homes officer from the Western Isles is shortlisted for recognition for his outstanding contribution in the individual category.
Murdo MacLeod, who works for the Western Isles Council, is up for the award after brining 61 properties back into use in the first year of the service on the Western Isles, far exceeding initial expectations.
Mr MacLeod, who works single handily to bring the rural properties back into use, has been heavily involved in the Pairc Trust project to bring a small disused and partially derelict elderly care unit at Gravir on Lewis back into action.
The trust’s project is also up for the Best Collaborative Project award as it now provides two valuable homes for affordable rent for the residents of Lewis.
Similarly, a community-led scheme to turn a disused schoolhouse in North Ronaldsay on Orkney into an affordable rented home has also been shortlisted for the Best Collaborative Project award.
The North Ronaldsay Trust has identified the shortage of homes for rent as a barrier to preventing families in moving to Orkney, with, ironically, a shortage of families moving to the island resulting in the school and schoolhouse being unused.
The Trust was able to win support from Orkney Islands Council to lease the schoolhouse, offering people interested in trialling a move to the island a place to live without having to buy property.
Organisers of the coveted awards, which have been sponsored by Howdens Joinery, praised all of the finalists stating they feel Scotland is turning a corner on empty homes, of which there are estimated to be 39,000.
Shaheena Din, National Manager of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, which organises the awards, said: “These awards are a chance to celebrate all the hard work of people like empty homes officers, housing associations and community groups who realise that these properties are a massive asset in the face of our housing emergency.
“I want to wish all our finalists the best of luck.”
Phil Hanson of Howdens Joinery praised the entries, hailing the “huge variety” which are “solving problems for owners and communities”.
