The number of vacant properties in Scotland has soared to a four-year high

New figures published on Saturday have revealed that more than 103,000 homes are lying empty - 4.2% of the country's total.

The highest number of empty homes is found in the Western Isles and Argyll and Bute, while North Lanarkshire enjoys the smallest proportion of vacant properties.

The Bank of Scotland survey said the latest figure of 103,433 is the highest since 2004 when 104,668 empty properties were recorded.

Areas with high levels of vacancies were typically those where residents took home less than average earnings, in most cases around 12% lower.

In the Western Isles 1,850 homes were unoccupied - 13.2% of all properties. Economist Suren Thiru said: "It is clearly concerning that the number of vacant homes in Scotland has increased recently following several years of decline.

"In many cases, high levels of vacant homes reflect relatively high levels of deprivation and lower than average earnings."
In North Lanarkshire just 1.6% of homes lay empty.

In Aberdeen the figure stood at 3.9% and the proportion of vacancies in both Glasgow and Edinburgh was slightly higher at 4.1%.
Dundee was higher still at 7.4%.

The Orkney Isles saw the biggest drop in the number of empty homes. The figure went down from 1,406 in 2003 to 904 in September 2008, when the latest report data was recorded.

A vacant home was classed as either a public or private dwelling which was empty because it was between occupants, undergoing modernisation or was a second home.

Properties unoccupied due to their state of disrepair and those awaiting demolition were also included.