The new properties bought in 2023/24 are a valuable addition to the council’s social housing stock, providing homes for people in need of accommodation.

It brings the total number of buy backs completed to over 340 since the scheme was introduced in 2012.

The council is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing across the Perth and Kinross Council area. The Buy Back Scheme is supplying additional accommodation of the type and size that people need, in the areas where they want to live. For the coming year 2024/25 we have a target of 40 buy back purchases. One has already been completed since the beginning of April, and another 19 are awaiting completion soon.

Properties purchased through the Buy Back Scheme are typically allocated to existing council or housing association tenants who are living in overcrowded accommodation, under-occupying their home, or who require a specific type of property to meet a medical need. We are often able to create a vacancy chain to meet the needs of multiple households through the purchase of a single property.

Housing and communities convener, Councillor Tom McEwan, explained: “I am delighted that we have surpassed our Buy Back target for the last year by a significant margin, as buy backs are an increasingly important plank of our strategy to increase our stock of affordable housing. We have a large number of buy backs that we are already processing for the coming year, which is great news. Since 2012 a total of 344 new homes have been added to the council’s stock through buying back ex-council homes. The statistics show we are one of the best performing councils in Scotland in this area of work.”

To be eligible for the Buy Back Scheme, a property must be located within the Perth and Kinross Council area and must have previously been in council ownership. Buy backs are typically ex-council houses or flats that were formerly sold under the Right to Buy scheme which operated in Scotland between 1980 and 2016.

The council is particularly interested in:

• Larger properties, such as those with three or four bedrooms, which would allow us to create a vacancy chain.
• Properties that are well-suited to or have been adapted to support people with medical or accessibility needs, such as bungalows, ground floor flats, flats with lift access, and properties with mobility adaptations such as wet rooms.
• Flats that would give the council majority or complete ownership of a block, as this can simplify the process of organising repairs or improvements to shared elements of the block, such as the roof or common close.