A group has been set up in Edinburgh to fight for empty homes to be brought back into use.

The City of Edinburgh Council set up the group, which will put together a bid for funding from the Scottish Government’s Empty Homes Loan Fund, consider the need for advice to owners of empty homes, and attempt to change the law so that local authorities can charge higher council tax for empty homes.

The membership of the group will include representatives from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, private landlords and housing associations.

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Latest figures from the Council show that at December 2011 there were 1,486 private sector properties empty for more than six months which is 0.8% of all private sector homes. Of these 967 had been vacant for more than a year.

But the percentage of homes that are empty in the capital is descreasing, and at 2% is below the Scottish average of 2.8%.

Councillor Cammy Day, Housing Leader for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "Everyone knows there is a desperate need for more housing in the capital and we hope the task force will be able to find ways of bringing more empty homes back into use."

A report on the Empty Homes Task Force is set to be discussed at a meeting of the Health, Social Care and Housing Committee this Tuesday.

The Council has already taken steps to reduce the potential for a greater number of empty homes during the recession by working with builders and housing associations to buy unsold new properties and convert them to affordable homes. This has resulted in a total of 76 newly built unsold properties being purchased since 2010/11.

(NE)