Glasgow faces a housing crisis with over 3,000 homes sitting empty while many struggle to find a place to live
Glasgow: The city is dealing with a serious housing issue. There are over 3,100 empty or second homes just sitting there. Most of these are privately owned and not being used at all.
Out of those, about 2,400 are private properties, and many have been empty for over a year. It’s a real head-scratcher, especially when so many people need homes.
Glasgow City Council doesn’t own any housing stock, but the local Registered Social Landlords have around 458 long-term empty properties. Wheatley Homes Glasgow, the biggest landlord, has 118 of those empty homes.
At a recent council meeting, Labour councillor Saqid Ahmed raised concerns about these vacant homes. George Gillespie, the Executive Director of Neighbourhoods, responded, saying they’re working with landlords to get these properties back into use.
He mentioned that the council is prioritizing these empty homes due to the housing emergency. There are various reasons why homes are left empty, like bank repossessions or family disputes after someone passes away.
Gillespie also pointed out that Glasgow is actually quite successful in bringing empty homes back into use. They’re proactive and offer help to owners to get these homes occupied again.
They’re even considering options like voluntary acquisition or compulsory purchase orders for some of the long-term empty properties. So far, they’ve promoted 66 of these orders to help create affordable housing.
In November 2023, Glasgow declared a housing emergency, highlighting the struggle with homelessness. Many people are stuck in temporary accommodations, waiting for a flat to become available.
Additionally, there are 425 second homes in the city. Starting from April 2025, Glasgow plans to charge a premium on these second homes, meaning owners will pay double the council tax.
Second homes are defined as furnished properties that aren’t anyone’s main residence and are occupied for at least 25 days in a year.
