The Scottish Government has announced an additional £700,000 to help return empty properties to use as affordable housing or temporary accommodation, aiming to support more families into stable homes.

The funding will be shared across 10 local authorities and can be used to create or expand grant schemes that help owners carry out essential repairs and refurbishments. With this uplift, total government investment this year to bring empty homes back into productive use rises to £2 million.

A new report from the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, published today, confirms a record number of empty homes were restored to use during 2025-26.

Announcing the funding at the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership conference in Glasgow, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing Shirley-Anne Somerville said: "We want everyone in Scotland to be able to have a warm, safe and affordable place to call home.

"While house building remains the cornerstone of our approach to increase supply, we're using every lever available to make sure existing homes support the needs of our communities too. That's why this funding matters.

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"Temporary accommodation can act as an important safety net, but we also recognise the impact that long-term stays can have particularly on children's wellbeing and stability. This funding may help councils to move households from temporary into settled permanent accommodation.

"Our investment of £5.7 million in the Partnership approach has delivered real results with more than 15,000 empty homes brought back into use since 2010, including a record 2,285 in the last year alone. This latest investment will help local authorities turn more empty homes into affordable housing for people that need them the most."

Tahmina Nizam, National Manager of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, said: "This additional Scottish Government funding to support efforts to tackle empty homes across Scotland's local authorities will be welcomed throughout the sector.

"We know that sustained, targeted investment in empty homes can deliver real and measurable outcomes, with the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership annual survey showing a record 2,285 formerly empty properties brought back into use. Rather than lying vacant, these are now providing homes for thousands of individuals and families across Scotland.

"This has only been possible through a step-change in empty homes work. Additional investment has enabled not only the expansion and growth of empty homes services across councils, but also the sort of targeted grant support for individual projects that this new funding will help to deliver.

"We look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government, local authorities and others in the sector to ensure that this additional resource can deliver the best possible outcomes, bringing an increasing number of empty homes in Scotland back into use as affordable housing."