Edinburgh City Council is urging local private landlords left with empty homes due to the coronavirus crisis to sign up to its Private Sector Leasing scheme.

Delivered by Link Group, this allows landlords to lease their properties to the Council for up to five years with guaranteed rent.

The Council said an extra 100 tenancies had been created in the first month of the coronavirus lockdown, vastly reducing its need to house some people in temporary bed and breakfast accommodation.

‘We have a shortage of affordable housing in Edinburgh and we urgently need to increase our city’s supply of safe, warm and much-needed homes. As soon as it’s safe to do so, we’ll be progressing our ambitious plans to build 20,000 new homes in the coming years, but we also need to work together as a city on short-term solutions’, said Council Leader Adam McVey.
‘This scheme offers a solution for private landlords who are unable to receive rental income during the pandemic, but more importantly for the city, it increases the number of homes available to people experiencing homelessness. We’d love to see many of the properties that had been used as short term lets returning to their proper use as homes.
‘Many landlords will be struggling to make an income during the pandemic but our scheme with Link provides guaranteed rent to owners now and for years to come. For the thousands of properties, we know have been used as holiday lets, this is also a chance to rebalance the market and for owners to return these properties to their proper use as homes’.