Government funding could help repurpose Wick’s eyesore buildings
A Scottish Government funding allocation of £40m may change the face of Wick as Highland Council could repurpose some of the town’s worst eyesore buildings as homes.
MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Maree Todd, welcomed the SNP Scottish Government announcement of £40 million for councils across Scotland, including Highland Council, to boost the supply of affordable homes.
Ms Todd MSP said: "There are a number of vacant properties in Wick that have the potential to be brought back into use, and this funding will provide crucial support to Highland Council to help make that happen.
“This is an important step towards reducing the reliance on temporary accommodation and ensuring more people have access to secure, permanent housing."
First Minister John Swinney says that £600 million would be committed to affordable housing in the current financial year. The £40 million allocation will allow local authorities to purchase properties to reduce temporary accommodation and bring vacant buildings back into use.
Across Scotland, councils have been supported to purchase almost 1500 properties in 2023-24 for use as affordable homes and the allocation of this £40 million will accelerate that work to ensure that families across the Highlands will have a safe and warm place to call home.
The former Mayfair video store at the corner of Smith Terrace in Wick is a case in point and has lain empty for many years with no sign of any refurbishments despite planning applications being lodged with Highland Council.
The scourge of derelict buildings disfiguring the town has long been discussed at community council meetings in Wick. A 2015 report stated it had the highest ratio of derelict buildings of any town in the Highlands, with Historic Scotland indicating that the royal burgh then had 21 properties on the 'buildings at risk' register.
Ms Todd added: "Tackling the housing emergency is one of the key issues in Highland and one of the key ways we can solve it is by bringing empty and vacant buildings back into use.
"This £40m fund, introduced by the SNP Government as part of the £600m affordable housing budget, will ensure that we can build on the 1500 properties that were brought into use for affordable housing in the past year.
"Every family deserves to have a safe and warm place that they can call home and with the SNP in government that is exactly what they will get."
As the funding is targeted at reducing the number of people in temporary accommodation most of it will be distributed this year to councils in Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian. However, all 27 other local authorities will also receive a share.
Highland Council will receive £0.653 million from the allocation. It will be up to Highland Council to determine how the funds are distributed.
A 'non-domestic rates empty property relief scheme' was also introduced on April 1. The scheme is being phased in over three years and will reduce the relief available for unoccupied/empty non-domestic rates properties.
The phasing approach will enable owners of non-domestic properties to bring these properties back into use in a planned way and enables those acquiring empty properties from April 1, 2024 to incorporate the costs of their non-domestic rates liabilities into their business plans and decisions.
