Moray boasts Scotland’s lowest council house vacancy rate at 0.6% in March 2024, significantly under the 1.9% national average.
Moray Council had only 36 vacant homes. These were normally rented council houses, representing only 0.6 percent of their total. Scotland’s average vacancy rate was 1.9 percent, making Moray’s rate significantly lower.
When considering other properties, including homeless housing and homes needing work, Moray’s rate fell further. This brought their rate to a quarter of the national rate. A spokesperson called this low rate “positive.”
They said re-letting time decreased significantly, dropping by nearly half in three years. The fact that fewer tenants also left their council homes further reduced vacancy rates.
The council reported they cut re-letting time greatly, from 62 days in 2021/22 to 35 days in 2023/24. The number of tenants leaving also dropped by 8.6 percent, which also helped lower vacancies.
The data also reveals how long houses stayed empty. Ten homes were vacant for at least six months, while two had sat empty for over two years. However, most were vacant for less than six weeks.
Eight vacant houses in Moray housed homeless people, down from twelve in 2023. Other houses awaited modernization, with two having waited between six months and two years for this work.
Moray’s total council house supply increased by 38. The data includes 27 Scottish councils, excluding Argyll, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverclyde, and Borders.
Aberdeen City Council had the highest vacancy rate, at nine percent. This is fifteen times higher than Moray’s rate. Highland and Aberdeenshire also had low rates, around one percent each.