Bringing empty properties back into use could ease the pressure on Moray’s housing stock.
That was the view of one councillor at a recent meeting of the housing and community services committee.
Conservative member for Keith and Cullen Donald Gatt asked what the local authority could do to bring unoccupied houses into use.
A report before councillors showed that around 1,187 affordable houses needed to be built in Moray between April 2018 and March 2022.
However only 351 were completed.
It also showed that in March this year 3,472 people were on the local authority’s housing waiting list, with seven applications received for every vacancy.
Since the start of the year house prices in Moray have increased by 17.3% higher than the national rate of 11.6%.
Mr Gatt said: “We’re obviously not going to build our way out of this issue.
“We’re not really buying any properties either.
“So bearing in mind at a previous meeting of this committee we heard there were over 4,000 empty homes in Moray, what can the council do to actively encourage people who own those empty homes to bring them back into use so they are available for rent or sale?
House prices up 17.3%
“If we even got a percentage of that 4,000 properties back into use it would ease things considerably I feel.”
Head of housing and property Edward Thomas told the committee the council had an empty homes officer who works with landlords to get properties occupied.
He said: “We’ve also been approached by the Scottish Government in line with work to assist Ukranian displaced persons to look at the extent empty homes could be brought back into use.
“We’ve responded to that and we’re waiting to hear to what extent funding to unlock some of these properties may be forthcoming.
“We are aware there are often complex circumstances that lead owners to move on.”
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