Thriving places are at the heart of realising the full potential of communities. They are also key to boosting local economies and helping to tackle poverty.

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership works with its network to address the country's 47,000 long term empty homes, and our annual conferences have been a place where practitioners come together to share knowledge on tackling empty homes.

With the theme From Empty Spaces to Thriving Places, the Scottish Empty Homes Conference returns on Tuesday 22nd March 2022* at the COSLA Conference Centre in Edinburgh.

We are excited to announce that the conference will be held in-person and will deliver plenty of opportunities for engagement and interaction in line with Covid-19 guidance. Digital participation is also available for those who prefer or need to participate from home.

We will be announcing the programme of speakers over the coming weeks, so stay tuned to find out more about what is in store.

The Auction House Scotland 11th Scottish Empty Homes Awards will also take place during the conference and we look forward to celebrating the achievements of the past year.

In-person tickets are limited, so get in early! Participants who require payment by invoice can order their tickets on Eventbrite and select Invoice in the payment section. A member of the team will then contact you to follow this up.

Programme (subject to change):

9am Registration, coffee and networking

9.25am A year at the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Video launch

9.30am Opening remarks

Debbie King, Head of Advocacy, Shelter Scotland

Phil Prentice, Chief Officer, Scotland’s Towns Partnership

9.40am Empty homes and the place principle

Professor Ken Gibb, Professor in Housing Economics (Urban Studies), University of Glasgow

10.10am My sense of place

The neighbour of a long-term empty home

10.25am Auction House Scotland saves the day

John Loudon, Business Development/Valuer, Auction House Scotland

10.45am Comfort break

10.50am Repopulation and empty homes in Western Isles

Donna Smith, Development Director, Tighean Innse Gall (TIG)

11.15am Morning tea break

11.30am Breakout session A

A data driven approach to empty homes

Donna Bogdanovic, Scottish Borders Council

Rachel Whale, Scottish Borders Council

Sponsored by Fraser & Fraser

Breakout session B

The buyback scheme 8 years on

Catriona Arbuckle. Development Officer, North Lanarkshire Council

Alyson McGlone, Empty Homes Officer, North Lanarkshire Council

Sponsored by Homes for Good

12.15pm Keynote address

Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government

1.00pm Lunch

1.45pm Launch of Why Empty Homes Matter

Andy Moseley, Senior Policy Officer, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

TBC, COSLA

2.15pm Transforming neighbourhoods and rebuilding communities

Caroline Gore Booth, Project Coordinator, Giroscope Hull

2.45pm Afternoon tea break

3.00pm Finding owners of empty homes

Finders International

3.15pm Helping communities to shape the future of their places

Petra Biberbach, Chief Executive, Planning Aid Scotland

David Wood, Planning and Policy Officer, Planning Aid Scotland

3.45pm Auction House Scotland 11th Scottish Empty Homes Awards Ceremony

4.15pm Closing remarks

4.30pm Conference ends

Visit the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership website for updates on the conference programme: https://emptyhomespartnership.scot/conference-2022/

*The conference was rescheduled from the original date of Tuesday 1 February 2022 to increase the likelihood of in-person participation.

Terms and conditions

• In the event of SEHP being required to cancel the in-person component of the conference due to Covid-19 guidelines and make the conference fully digital, in-person participants will be refunded the difference between in-person and digital tickets prices, with early bird discounts honoured.

• If you have purchased an in-person ticket and are no longer able to attend in person, and wish to have a full refund or partial refund (to attend the conference as a digital participant) the following conditions apply:

o Positive Test: If you test positive for COVID-19 and can evidence this your full or partial refund will be paid. Your required self-isolation period would need to cover the event date.

o Negative test: If you test negative, our normal terms & conditions will apply.

o High risk Individuals: If you’re in a high-risk group and were not aware of this at the time of booking, and you later receive a doctor’s note instructing you not to travel to a certain area then your full or partial refund will be paid.

o Required self-isolation: If a member of your immediate family tests positive and you’re required or need to self-isolate and can evidence this then your full or partial refund will be paid. Unfortunately we cannot provide refunds for self-isolation requested by the government's Track & Trace system or if you need to self-isolate for any other reason.

• To request a refund, contact emptyhomes@shelter.org.uk and your request will be processed within five (5) working days