The Highland Council is to pilot a scheme targeting its empty homes and bringing them back into affordable housing use in three of its areas.

The news comes a day after the Scottish Government awarded £20k to councils across the Forth Valley area to help rejuvenate a number of the country's empty homes.

The Council's Housing and Property Service is to initially target the Black Isle, Inverness Central and Nairn as pilots, which provide a mix of rural and urban locations.

A Housing Development Assistant is to be engaged, initially for one year, to create a database of empty properties and subsequently develop and co-ordinate action. The Council added that it would match a £400k grant from the Scottish Government's Empty Homes Loan Fund with £400k from its Private Sector Housing Grant to help promote the initiative.

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A condition of the Scottish Government grant is that the property being brought back into use is used as affordable housing for a minimum of five years. Affordable housing is defined as housing for social rent, intermediate rent or shared equity. Funding can be used to assist owners to bring their property up to a suitable standard or assist the Council or a partner organisation to purchase properties and bring them up to a suitable standard.

Councillor Dave Fallows, Chair of the Finance Housing and Resources Committee, welcomed the move. He said: "This is another first class initiative from our Housing and Property Service. Empty homes are becoming a key issue due to the housing shortage, the rising cost of finding a home and the disrepair, neighbourhood blight and anti-social behaviour issues often stemming from long term empty properties. Bringing empty properties back into use will increase affordable housing and improve the condition of properties across the Highlands."

(JP/CD)