Bringing empty homes back into use: audit of privately owned empty homes

Appendix 1: Local authority survey questionnaire

Empty homes survey

Introduction

The Scottish Government has appointed Indigo House, in collaboration with IBP Strategy and Research, to undertake an independent Empty Homes Audit, which will set out the scale of the problem and consider how long-term empty homes can be brought back into use.

We are inviting local authorities to complete a survey that will contribute to audit findings and ultimately be used by the Scottish Government to consider how it can best meet the commitments on empty homes set out within the Housing to 2040 Strategy; this includes maximising the outcomes of existing and any future funding schemes.

The information that you provide will be held on secure servers by IBP Strategy and Research, Indigo House Group and the Scottish Government and will be shared between these parties using an encrypted and password-protected method. All copies of the data you provide will be deleted or destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes of this specific study.

Your responses to closed and numerical questions will be used only in aggregate for the purposes of statistical research and no information about your individual response will be passed on to the Scottish Government. Your write-in comments may be used in the preparation of published reports but will not be attributed to yourself. However, you should note that the nature of any comments you make could potentially identify you and you should be aware of this in making any such comments.

Participation in this survey is voluntary. You can also withdraw from participation in the survey at any time prior to 31st March 2023. To do so, please contact Jason Brown at IBP Strategy & Research.

The findings of the overall study will be shared with the Local Authority in due course by the Scottish Government and the independent Audit will be published later in 2023.

Please answer as many questions as you can but if there are any questions that you are not able to answer, or don't wish to answer, please just move on to the next question.

Should you have any questions before consenting to take part in the survey, please contact Jason Brown at IBP Strategy & Research.

By selecting the button below to continue with the survey you confirm your understanding of the purpose of the survey and consent to have the response you provide used in the above way.

Person completing the form

Name:

Title:

Email:

Phone:

Local Authority Area:

• Aberdeen City Council
• Aberdeenshire Council
• Angus Council
• Argyll and Bute Council
• City of Edinburgh Council
• Clackmannanshire Council
• Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
• Dumfries and Galloway Council
• Dundee City Council
• East Ayrshire Council
• East Dunbartonshire Council
• East Lothian Council
• East Renfrewshire Council
• Falkirk Council
• Fife Council
• Glasgow City Council
• Highland Council
• Inverclyde Council
• Midlothian Council
• Moray Council
• North Ayrshire Council
• North Lanarkshire Council Orkney Islands Council
• Perth and Kinross Council
• Renfrewshire Council
• Scottish Borders Council
• Shetland Islands Council
• South Ayrshire Council
• South Lanarkshire Council
• Stirling Council
• West Dunbartonshire Council
• West Lothian Council

Is "Empty Homes" a specific part of your personal job remit?

Yes, full-time

Yes, part-time

No

Please provide details below of the functions or departments that you consulted with in the preparation of this response.

Does your Local Authority have a documented Empty Homes strategy and / or action plan?

Yes

No, but we are in the process of preparing this

No

1. Long-term empty homes in your area

For the purposes of this survey, "long-term empty homes" are privately owned residential properties (not including social rented properties) that have not been occupied for a period of 6 months or more.

If you do not have full up-to-date figures available for these questions, please provide the best estimates that you can. We will also be gathering certain data from existing published information.

Please note below the date to which the information you provide in this section relates; that is, the date at which this data was most recently collated. This could be today's date or a specific month (for example, December 22).

Q1.1 How many long-term empty homes do you have in your Local Authority area (that is, privately owned residential properties that have been empty for a period of 6 months or more)?

Q1.2 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes in your Local Authority area are in the following categories? Please ensure that the figures you provide sum to 100%.

Flats%

Houses%

Don't know

Q1.3 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes in your Local Authority area fall into the following categories, in relation to number of bedrooms? Please ensure that the figures you provide sum to 100%.

1 bedroom (including studio apartments)%

2 bedrooms%

3 bedrooms%

4 bedrooms%

5 or more bedrooms%

Don't know

Q1.4 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes in your area are in the following types of area in relation to urban-rural split? Please ensure that the figures you provide sum to 100%.

Large Urban Areas: Settlements of 125,000 people and over%

Other Urban Areas: Settlements of 10,000 to 124,999 people%

Accessible Small Towns: Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more.%

Remote Small Towns: Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more.%

Accessible Rural Areas: Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more.%

Remote Rural Areas: Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more.%

Don't know

Q1.5 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes in your Local Authority area are in each of the following categories of housing demand areas, based on your own Local Authority's perception of demand in those areas? Please ensure that the figures you provide sum to 100%.

High demand%

Medium demand%

Low demand%

Mixed demand%

Don't know

Q1.6 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes in your Local Authority area fall into the following categories in relation to their current condition? Please ensure that the figures you provide sum to 100%.

Ready for occupation with little or no investment%

Would require some investment to make ready for occupation%

Would require significant investment to make ready for occupation%

Don't know

Q1.7 Approximately what proportion of long-term empty homes has your Local

Authority formally assessed, in terms of the potential to bring them back into use?

%

Don't know

Q1.8 What proportion of long-term empty homes in your Local Authority area that you have assessed do you believe can be brought back into use?

%

Don't know

2. Barriers to bringing long-term empty homes back into use

Q2.1 On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "not an issue" and 5 is "a significant issue", to what extent are each of the following barriers in bringing long-term empty homes back into use?

Difficulty in locating or engaging with the owner

Difficulty in establishing ownership

Difficulty in coordinating action across different internal Local Authority stakeholders

Difficulty in coordinating action across different external stakeholders

Financial barriers - for example, owners not willing or able to commit sufficient financial resources - this could include repairs costing more than anticipated, or bankruptcy

Practical reasons such as repairs / refurbishment taking longer than planned

Housing market factors making investment in empty homes unviable

Lack of available resources within the Local Authority to address the issue of long-term empty homes

Personal reasons - for example, owner' s emotional attachment to property, mental incapacity, imprisonment or hospitalisation

Q2.2 Please use the space below to make any further comments you wish about the barriers to bringing long-term empty homes back into use.

3. Initiatives to bring long-term empty homes back into use

Q3.1 To what extent do you consider each of the following external factors will have a positive impact on efforts to bring long-term empty homes back into use? Please answer on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is "no impact at all" and 5 is "a significant impact"

Pressured housing systems and difficulty in access to housing may make bringing empty homes back into use more attractive due to high demand relative to supply

Local economic development and regeneration opportunities being increasingly linked into the provision of housing

New investment / funding options becoming available such as City Region / Island Deals

Better awareness now of the work of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Increasing involvement from local community organisations / enterprises and partnerships in addressing housing issues

Other (please say what below)

Q3.2 How effective do you consider each of the following to have been in bring longterm empty homes back into use? Please answer on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "not at all effective" and 5 is "very effective".

Coordination of action across stakeholders by Empty Homes Officers

Provision of information and advice to owners by Empty Homes Officers

Provision of information and advice to owners provided by other parties

Support to Local Authorities through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Financial incentives provided by the Local Authority or other partners

Non-financial incentives provided by the Local Authority or other partners

Partnerships with housing associations and / or other third sector and community groups

Partnership with private housing developers or other private sector players

Access to VAT and other discount schemes e.g. merchant discounts

Council Tax discretion policies (for example, discounts or exemptions)

Enforcement action against owners

Q3.3 If you are aware of financial incentives provided by the Local Authority or partners having an impact on bringing long-term empty homes back into use, please give brief details / examples. These could include, for example, grants, loans, rent deposit guaranteed schemes, private sector leasing schemes, other forms of financial assistance.

Q3.4 If you are aware of non-financial incentives provided by the Local Authority or partners having an impact on bringing long-term empty homes back into use, please give brief details / examples.

Q3.5 If you are aware of Council Tax discretion policies having had an impact on bringing long-term empty homes back into use, please give brief details of how this has worked in your Local Authority area.

Q3.6 If you are aware of enforcement actions having had an impact on bringing longterm empty homes back into use, please give brief details of any enforcement actions that your Local Authority has used.

4. Areas for improvement

Q4.1 To what extent do you think improvements in each of the following would have an impact on bringing long-term empty homes back into use? Please answer on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "no impact" and 5 is "a significant impact".

Increased Empty Homes Officer resource (or similar)

Enhanced financial support to owners to bring long-term empty homes back into use

Enhanced enforcement action against owners

Improved engagement from external partners to overcome barriers to longterm empty homes being brought back into use

Enhanced support for community action to help bring long-term empty homes back into use

Q4.2 Please use the space below to set out any suggestions for improvements you would like to make, whether in relation to the themes in Question 4.1 or more generally.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

Please click the "Submit" button below to upload your response.

You will then be redirected to the Scottish Government's "More Homes" page and this means that your response has been uploaded successfully.