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.
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