29 March 2019

Bringing council properties back into use more quickly

Measures to help bring empty council properties back into use more quickly have been agreed by Aberdeenshire Council’s Communities Committee.

At a meeting of the committee in the council’s Woodhill House headquarters in Aberdeen on Thursday (Thu, Mar 28) councillors examined ways to reduce the time taken to re-let council houses.

The council currently has around 13,000 council houses, of which around 9% become vacant each year. 

The term ‘void’ is used to describe an empty property that is yet to be brought back into use, often to allow for upgrade or repair and sometimes for major works or as a result of fire or flood. 

There are currently 602 void properties in Aberdeenshire, 260 of which are undergoing upgrade or repair, and a further 240 which are scheduled to receive internal wall insulation.

Insulation works are required on a large number of properties to allow the council to meet national energy efficiency standards by December next year, and a housing improvement programme was agreed in 2017 to progress this.

The committee heard that it has taken longer than hoped for contractors to progress the insulation work, although figures are expected to have reduced significantly by the end of May this year.

The insulation works for remaining properties are now being led by the council’s own housing repairs team the team is to be expanded to cover all of Aberdeenshire, with all works expected to be completed within the next 12 months.

As a result of the meeting and the debate, members will be given area specific information, with overviews and local works taking place and what type. They were also given assurances that void properties awaiting repair can be and are being used for emergency housing and temporary accommodation.

Chair of the Committee Cllr Anne Stirling said: “A lot of work has gone into identifying ways to ensure properties are made available for re-let as soon as possible and good progress has been made. It was reassuring to see today how innovative and proactive Council officers are being on that re-let process but also to see that they are working to use the properties in useful ways during the void process.

“Pressure is being maintained to turn properties around quickly but with the priority always being re-letting in a good condition. Of course, that brings delays sometimes but today we saw proof that the process is efficient which is the most important point for our tenants and for the public purse.”

Vice-chair Cllr Iris Walker said: “Voids are an important strand in the rapid re-housing plan, and this was a positive debate today. We are now on track to complete all outstanding insulation works within the next year and I would commend the work of our housing repairs internal wall insulation team for the excellent progress they are making.”