Held in The Studio on Hope Street, the conference will bring together housing experts, public servants, and others to discuss the role of empty homes in Scotland.

The theme of this year’s conference is – Learning from the Past, Visions for the Future.

This theme will see the conference exploring past learnings and visions for the future. Included in this will be consideration of the collective work that has been carried out, how we can use empty homes work to tackle the housing emergency, and how it can help meet our affordable and social housing needs.

The event will also host the Auction House Scotland 13th Scottish Empty Homes Awards which, for the first time, will include a category open to the public.

The Best Housing Renovation – Members of the Public Award recognises those who have successfully transformed all or part of an empty property in the past two years and will be open to everyone meeting the entrance criteria.

Scottish property specialists and auctioneers, Auction House Scotland, are the inaugural sponsors of the awards and the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership expresses its gratitude for their support.

To be eligible for nomination, an individual should have renovated all or part of an empty home in the past two years and be willing to share their story.

Members of the public are encouraged to get in touch with their nominations.

Those working in the housing sector will also be eligible for another Best Housing Renovation Award in a different category.

The awards are the highlight of the Scottish Empty Homes Conference, which takes place for the thirteenth year in February and will also include project case studies and a line-up of fascinating speakers.

The full and exciting line-up of speakers and sponsors for this year’s conference will soon be published.

The Studio in Glasgow will host this year’s conference on Thursday 29 February and Early Bird tickets are available now (£30 +VAT). The offer runs until 30 December when general admission tickets go on sale (£50 +VAT).

This year’s conference is an in-person only event and tickets are available via Eventbrite or by requesting an invoice to alan.grant@orbit.scot.

Lisa Borthwick, national manager at the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, said: “That members of the public will be able to share their renovation success stories with us at our annual conference is great news.

“We know that across the country, there are hardworking people who have turned empty properties into places people want to live and we believe they should be celebrated.

“Scotland is facing a housing emergency and bringing empty homes back into use is a key part of solving it.”