Empty homes will be brought back into use as council reveals plans to tackle housing crisis

Empty homes will be brought back into use and more long-term social housing provided - as part of efforts to tackle soaring rates of homelessness in East Renfrewshire.

- EDEL KENEALY

The measures are just two of a host of initiatives which the local authority has revealed six months after it declared a housing emergency.

The council confirmed in September 2024 how the number of people in temporary homeless accommodation had rocketed by 44 per cent in the space of a year.

The increase has forced the council to take a series of actions to support homeless people into permanent homes and also to help prevent homelessness from occurring.

It has employed an empty homes officer with the aim of bringing 124 empty homes back into use and has created a £1 million acquisition fund which has allowed the local authority to purchase six homes to date.