Twenty homes in Dundee that have lain empty for up to 18 years have been brought back into use thanks to a new project run by Dundee and Angus councils.
The two local authorities and the Scottish Government are funding an empty homes officer for two years to help bring abandoned properties back to life.
Although there is a desperate need for new housing in Dundee, there are currently 3,626 unoccupied properties in the private sector.
Of these, 1,336 have been empty for six months or more.
Since the empty homes office began working in April 2016, 275 letters and surveys have been sent to the owners of unoccupied properties.
The most common reasons for properties being left vacant is where the property is in the process of being sold or where the owner is waiting until market conditions improve before trying to see the property.
Others may already have their house on the market but are receiving little interest.
The empty homes officer works with owners to provide advice on how the homes can be brought back into use, usually by giving information related to renovation, renting or selling the property.
In Dundee, nine of the 20 vacant properties have now been let while eight have been sold.
One of the properties that was let had been vacant for 18 years and four months.
Another two homes had lain empty for more than a decade.
Two others were occupied while the final property was reclassified as a commercial property.
Speaking at a meeting of the community safety and public protection committee, Strathmartine councillor John Alexander said: “I think the work that has been undertaken is to be welcomed and hopefully over the next year we will see more properties come back into use.”
Coldside councillor Jimmy Black added: “It costs £140,000 to build a council house and there are over 3,000 houses out there that could be brought back into use.
“There is a tremendous potential to improve the fabric of the city and house people in an affordable way.”
But he warned many owners could be caught in a Catch-22 situation, where they would only get money for repairs to bring properties up to scratch once the repairs had actually taken place.
The empty homes office post cost £29,872 in its first year with the Scottish Government providing £20,000 towards the cost and the balance split between Dundee City and Angus councils.
The Scottish Government will contribute £10,000 for the second year of the scheme with the balance once again split between the two local authorities.
