Sunday 22 December 2024
 6.3°C   NNW Strong Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

News / Government threat to islands’ housing

SHETLAND could be hit hard by Scottish government proposals to tax empty homes and remove the housing support grant, according to Shetland Islands Council head of housing Anita Jamieson.

Plans to charge council tax on an estimated 385 empty properties in Shetland could encourage their owners to demolish them, rather than generate an estimated £450,000 for the authority.

Worse still, the council would lose £1.5 million a year if the government abolished housing support grant.

The isles could find themselves isolated fighting this move as Shetland is the only authority in Scotland to receive the grant, which is used to pay the interest on the housing debt for oil worker homes built in the 1970s.

Last week infrastructure secretary Alex Neil opened a consultation on the new Council Tax on Empty Homes and Housing Support Grant Bill.

Mr Neil said councils throughout Scotland could raise £30 million a year to spend on new affordable homes with the new tax, with each property generating an average of £1,200.

However Ms Jamieson said the SIC would not wish to impose such a tax on vacant properties in the isles, which were predominantly croft houses.

“I would prefer to offer incentives for people to bring homes back into use, rather than penalise them, because it might encourage them to take the furniture out, take the roof off or even demolish them to avoid being charged,” she said.

“We are also the only authority receiving housing support grant and we will obviously be responding to that part of the legislation because it could have an impact that would directly affect this council.”

More information about the Council Tax on Empty Homes and Housing Support Grant Bill is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/emptyhomes.

 

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.