Orkney offers £25,000 loans to bring empty homes back into use

With 727 empty properties and a severe housing shortage, priority will go to homes for essential workers.

Daily Alba · 2 October 2026 · 2 min read

Illustrative image of an empty stone house in Orkney farmland. Illustrative image, not a photograph of the reported event.

Orkney Islands Council has launched a scheme offering loans of up to £25,000 to help owners repair and renovate long-term empty homes, the Press and Journal reports.

The scale

Scottish Government data from December 2025 lists 727 empty properties in Orkney, including 325 empty for six months or more and liable for council tax.

Conditions

Owners must bring homes up to the repairing standard and make them available for affordable private rent, with priority for essential workers.

Housing pressure

Housing committee chair Gwenda Shearer has described the shortage as the biggest challenge facing Orkney.

Source & attribution: This original report is based on Press and Journal (Local Democracy Reporting Service), published 2 October 2026. This is not independent on-the-ground reporting.