AN EDINBURGH fish shop has lain empty for more than 10 years because no-one can prove who owns it, MSPs have been told.
The city store, which has accommodation above, has been disused for more than a decade and is deemed to be causing a blight on the local area.
But efforts to use a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to bring the property back into use have failed due to uncertainty about its legal owner.
Private genealogists will now be used in an attempt to solve the problem, Shaheena Din of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) told Holyrood’s Local Government and Communities Committee.
Din said around 13% of Scotland’s disused residencies – estimated by National Records of Scotland to run to more than 100,000 homes – are the subject of ownership mysteries.
She said: “These ones cause significant issues. You can’t bring them back into use if you can’t engage with an owner.”
Din said the capital asset, which was not identified, is among many which could be purchased under legal safeguards aimed at improving communities and easing housing pressures.
“The person who said they own the property has got a bit of papering saying they’ve got the title deeds, but they are not convinced that they actually own the property,” she said.
“We’re looking at private genealogists to try and trace an owner.”
In the first evidence session of the committee’s enquiry into empty homes, the panel heard some councils are “confident” enough to use CPOs.
Din cited successful examples in Dundee’s Roseangle area, as well as others in Falkirk, Stirling and Argyll and Bute.
However, the panel heard the costs and legal legwork of using the orders can act as a deterrent.
The MSPs heard proposed compulsory sales orders may provide a more effective alternative for local authorities as these could force the placement of housing on the property market.
Over the summer SEHP will undertake mapping of empty housing across the country to close data gaps and interrogate trends to inform measures to tackle the problem of derelict residential stock.
While Angus and North Ayrshire councils are among the local authorities which have already adopted this policy, other regional bodies have not done so.
Derek Logie, chief executive of Rural Housing Scotland, said Tarbrax in South Lanarkshire is among the areas with empty homes problems triggered by unknown and absent owners.
Describing local efforts to bring them back into use, he said: “It was the ones which were really blighting the community that they wanted to get their hands on.
“It’s particularly galling in places where there’s a lack of affordable housing for local people.”
Logie said the issue has an impact on jobs and the economy as well as individuals, and that communities can play a role in finding solutions.
Tory MSP Alexander Stewart called for Government action to bring disused flats above town centre shops back into use in order to boost the high street.
Din said the average empty homes officer at Scottish councils has a caseload of “hundreds” of properties, commenting: “It doesn’t make sense to leave properties lying empty. We’ve seen some really good examples of empty homes buy-backs, where they’re buying back ex-local authority properties or even properties that meet their housing need.”
The enquiry, which includes submissions from the public and stakeholder organisations, is ongoing.
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