Empty and Second Homes in September 2025

16 Dec 2025 11:26 AM

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.

In Scotland there are 20,927 second homes, 44,453 properties empty for more than 6 months and liable for Council Tax and 44,989 properties with unoccupied exemptions from Council Tax.

The latest council tax data (in September 2025) shows there were 20,927 second homes, 44,453 properties liable for Council Tax that had been empty for more than 6 months, of which, 73% (32,337) were categorised as long-term empty homes (i.e. empty for over 12 months) and 44,989 properties with unoccupied exemptions from Council Tax, which have generally been empty and unfurnished for less than 6 months.

Compared with the previous year (2024):

• there was a decrease of 3% (-679) in second homes
• a increase of 2% (915) in empty homes, that are liable for Council Tax
• an increase of 2% (741) in long term empty homes (empty for over 12 months), that are liable for Council Tax
•  a decrease of 6% (-2,790) in properties with unoccupied exemptions from Council Tax.

Background

Second Homes and Empty Properties in September 2025 – gov.scot

Prior to this publication, empty homes data were published in the December quarterly housebuilding release.

Background information including Excel tables and explanatory information on data sources and quality can be found in the Housing Statistics webpages.

Official statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.