Falkirk Council has agreed to plans to bring empty properties back into residential use.

The five-year plan will run from 2014 to 2019 and aims to increase the supply of local affordable housing.

Since April, the local authority has said 62 properties have been transformed and brought back into use as a result of a targeted approach to working with owners of empty homes.

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Commenting on the proposals, Councillor Gerry Goldie, the Council's spokesperson for Housing, said: "There is a national shortage of properties available to rent across Scotland. While we are trying to address this through our house building and buy back programmes, we are also working with private owners of empty properties.

"Empty homes can have a negative impact in local communities encouraging anti-social behaviour and are also at risk of squatting. There can be around 1,000 empty properties at any one time across the Falkirk Council area and we hope that this figure will greatly reduce over the next five years."

(JP/MH)