The Highland Council confirmed the Empty Homes Challenge Fund as part of a progress update to councillors on 14 May on the Highland Housing Challenge, declared in June 2024. The initiative is designed to help owners carry out repairs and refurbishments so empty properties can return to everyday use.

Across Highland there are 2,466 long‑term empty homes, with 41% lying vacant for more than three years.

Grants will be available to eligible applicants of up to £30,000 in rural areas and up to £25,000 in urban areas. In return, homes must be brought back into use and either let at affordable mid‑market rent or occupied as the owner's main residence for a minimum of five years. Properties must have been empty for at least 12 months to qualify.

The fund forms part of a broader package of measures to address housing pressures. An estimated 24,000 new homes are needed by 2035 across all tenures — including social rent, private rent and homes to buy — to meet demand and help people live, work and remain in the Highlands. The Council is also pursuing actions to unlock investment, increase land supply, streamline planning, and build delivery capacity across the public and private sectors.

Convener of The Highland Council, Cllr Bill Lobban, said: "There is no single solution to the Highland Housing Challenge. That is why we are taking a series of practical, coordinated actions - from bringing empty homes back into use to creating mechanisms that speed up development, and identifying land. The availability of local housing for people to live and work in the region is critical to the future sustainability of our communities and the wider socio-economic transformation of our region."

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Members were also updated on work to advance Master Consent Areas (MCAs), which can accelerate housing delivery by securing planning permission ahead of a formal development plan allocation, provided proposals align with a masterplan co‑developed by the community, developer and the council.

Following recent public engagement on potential MCAs at Essich Road in Inverness, Embo and Ardersier, all three sites have been scaled back. The Council now proposes around 400 homes at Ardersier, 315 at Essich and 60 at Embo. Feedback shaping the masterplans includes minimum affordable housing requirements of 25% to 35% (depending on location), safeguarding land for community facilities, robust provisions on schools, transport, active travel, drainage and environmental mitigation, and formal Good Neighbour Agreements to hold developers to account.

Councillors agreed to progress a proposed masterplan consent area scheme for each site. An independent masterplan adviser will be commissioned to support co‑authoring of the draft plans by local communities, the Council and developers. The masterplans will go out for further consultation before being considered by the relevant planning committees.

Further activity under way includes development of a mid‑market rental model for those seeking affordable private rents; expanding the Council's landbank, currently with capacity for around 1,800 homes over the next decade; and a round‑table with developers before the end of June to explore ways to accelerate delivery.

This joined‑up approach sits alongside workforce development through Workforce North, the use of Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport business rates, and investment via the Social Value Charter.

Leader of the Highland Council, Cllr Raymond Bremner, said: "The Council is investing £1 million in an Empty Homes Challenge Fund, aimed at increasing the availability of affordable housing while supporting rural regeneration. Empty homes are a real challenge for Highland, which has more long-term empty homes than any other local authority in Scotland. This fund will build on our Empty Homes Strategy by offering practical support to owners to help them bring properties back into everyday use."

Applications for the Empty Homes Challenge Fund will open on the Highland Council website when the fund goes live at the end of May. Early enquiries can be sent to: [email protected]