Empty Business Property – Update on Business Grant Scheme
Argyll and Bute Council · 9 October 2025
Back to Policy and Resources Committee — 9 October 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH 9 OCTOBER 2025 EMPTY BUSINESS PROPERTY – UPDATE ON BUSINESS GRANT SCHEME 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The purpose of this paper is to update the Policy and Resources Committee on the implementation of the Empty Business Property Grant Scheme. 1.2 On 19 June 2025, the Environmental, Development and Infrastructure Committee approved the approach and governance of the business grant scheme for up to £786,000 in the financial year 2025/26. 1.3 To date, twelve grant offers have been made for a cumulative value of £203,429.19. The council’s Empty Business Property Officer is currently engaged with a further eighteen applications and a pipeline of enquiries. 1.4 Grant applications are accepted on a rolling basis; however, it is projected that live applications could contain grant requests for around £355,000, with ongoing enquires likely to advance this figure further. 1.5 To help provide a baseline and ongoing monitoring, a new dashboard has been added to Area Scorecards to report on Empty Business Property rates. This will help explore the impact of policy changes, the grant scheme and other factors. 1.6 It is recommended that the Policy and Resources Committee:- i. Notes the early progress of the business grant scheme. ii. Notes the implementation of a new data dashboard incorporated into Area Scorecards. This will ensure quarterly updates are provided on empty property rates by administration area. iii. Agrees that future updates on the Empty Business Property Grant scheme will be reported as part of the 6 monthly Transformational Projects and Regeneration Team reports to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee.
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iv. Notes that the Empty Business Grant Scheme will continue to be administered in line with the approved governance procedures.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH 9 OCTOBER 2025 EMPTY BUSINESS PROPERTY – UPDATE ON BUSINESS GRANT SCHEME 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 The purpose of this paper is to update the Policy and Resources Committee on the early progress of the Empty Property Business Grant Scheme. 2.2 This paper seeks to outline how the grant scheme is helping to incentivise and support owners and tenants of empty business properties to return them to productive use. 2.3 The following table, provides a summary of the current empty property rate per administration area, the number of grant approvals and a summary of live applications that are at different stages in the development or assessment process. Table 1: Empty Business Property Grant Scheme Sumamry Area Empty Property Rate No. of Completed Grant Approvals Grant Value No. of Live Applications Projected Grant Value B&C 4.8% 5 £92,068.10 7 £163,000.00 H&L 2.5% 2 £28,150.00 1 £10,000.00 MAKI 4.1% 5 £83,211.09 7 £125,000.00 OLI 2.2% 0 £0 3 £57,000.00 A&B 3.4% 12 £203,429.19 18 £355,000 2.4 In addition to the live applications detailed in Table 1, the Empty Business Property Officer is supporting a number of owners and tenants across Argyll and Bute to address barriers and develop projects to a stage where they are ready to be considered for grant funding applications. 2.5 It is considered that there will be considerable on-going demand via the Empty Business Property Grant Scheme to support property owners and tenants repurpose, refurbish and invest in vacant commercial properties which will in
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turn support wider place based regeneration and economic growth initiatives being delivered by the Council and key partners. 2.6 To help baseline, monitor progress and measure the impact of the policy changes and grant scheme, a new data dashboard for Empty Business Properties has been added to the quarterly Area Scorecards. This will support the council to advance data-driven decision-making, and help to establish a suite of place based analytics that will support future investment priorities. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the Policy and Resources Committee:- i. Notes the early progress of the business grant scheme. ii. Notes the implementation of a new data dashboard incorporated into Area Scorecards. This will ensure quarterly updates are provided on empty property rates by administration area. iii. Agrees that future updates on the Empty Business Property Grant scheme will be reported as part of the 6 monthly Transformational Projects and Regeneration Team reports to the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee. iv. Notes that the Empty Business Grant Scheme will continue to be administered in line with the approved governance procedures. 4.0 DETAIL 4.1 Empty Property Relief was devolved to Scottish Local Authorities on 1 April 2023. At their meeting of 23 November 2023, Council subsequently agreed that from 1 April 2024, 50% Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) relief could be granted to business properties which are empty for a maximum of three months. In cases where business properties remain empty beyond three months, 10% relief can be awarded for up to an additional nine-month period. Following this, should a business property remain empty beyond a twelve- month period, no further NDR relief would be awarded, and 100% Non- Domestic Rates would begin to be charged. 4.2 On 23 November 2023, Council also agreed that the remaining Empty Property Relief funding from Scottish Government be used towards an Empty Property Business Grant Scheme (BGS), the aim of which would be to incentivise owners to return properties to productive use. 4.3 On 8 May 2025, the council’s Policy and Resources Committee approved Extended Empty Property Relief, whereby non-domestic rates relief will be extended for property owners who are actively working to bring their
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properties back into use. Owners may apply for 100% relief for up to 12 months at any time after the property becomes vacant, provided the conditions are met. 4.4 On 19 June 2025, the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee approved the parameters and governance for the business grant scheme and extended empty property relief. It is anticipated that the Business Grant Scheme could have a budget of up to £786,000 in the financial year 2025/26. 4.5 An Empty Business Property Officer has been appointed to support and facilitate the distribution of funding for Extended Empty Property Relief and Business Grant Scheme. 4.6 The Business Grant Scheme operates region-wide and is promoted via council websites, the local Business Gateway service and other Council teams and partners. 4.7 The grant scheme is open to business start-ups, established SME’s, Development Trusts, social enterprises and charities. The scheme is also open to potential inward investors from out with Argyll and Bute, who are looking to establish a business in the region. 4.8 Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until funding is allocated in full. This means that whilst the fund is open there is no deadline for applications, but successful projects must be completed and claimed before 31 March 2026. 4.9 To date, twelve grant offers have been made for a cumulative value of £203,429.19. The council’s Empty Business Property Officer is currently engaged with a further eighteen applications and a pipeline of enquiries. It is projected that live applications could contain grant requests totaling circa £355,000, with ongoing enquires likely to advance this figure further. 4.10 To help baseline, monitor progress and measure the impact of the grant scheme and policy, a new data dashboard for Empty Business Properties has been added to the quarterly Area Scorecards. This will support the council to advance data driven decision-making and help establish a suite of place- based analytics that can provide actionable insights for officers, stakeholders and potential investors. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 The early stages of the Empty Business Property Grant Scheme has immediately supported a number of projects and provided confirmation that this funding supported by the development of data driven decision-making will
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help unlock investment and contribute positively towards interventions that support the regeneration of our town centers. 5.2 The Empty Business Property Grant Scheme will continue to support the owners and prospective tenants of empty business properties to return these to productive use with a view to enhancing the look, feel and vitality of our places, helping to grow the local economy, create new job opportunities, and attract inward investment. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy – Empty Business Property Grant will support Argyll and Bute Council’s Growth Areas, Areas for Action, Regeneration Areas and Fragile Economic Areas, by prioritising applications for activity in these areas, and will be cognisant of a range of LDP2 policies. The Scheme seeks to take a place- based approach and to adopt a Town Centre First approach. 6.2 Financial – Funding of the grant scheme has previously been approved from the grant allocation from Scottish Government. 6.3 Legal – The new empty property policy will be prescribed under section 140 of the Community Empowerment Act 2015 and each grant funded project will have differing legal and procurement requirements depending on the associated works undertaken and grant contract conditions. We will continually monitor each application and ensure compliant delivery of funded projects. 6.4 HR – None. 6.5 Customer service – None. 6.6 Risk – There are risks of damage to the economy and the attractiveness and viability of town centres and other businesses if the number of empty properties increases without intervention. 6.7 Climate change – Addressing empty/vacant/derelict properties will help make best use of existing stock and can support the delivery of energy efficiency measures that contribute towards achieving climate change targets. 6.8 Fairer Scotland Duty – All applicants for grants will be tested for complying with Fair Work First policy to actively consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage. 6.9 Equalities: protected characteristics – None. 6.10 Consumer duty – The grant scheme aims to help bring empty properties back into productive use and create new economic and employment opportunities. 6.11 Island communities – Whilst no specific allocation is made, grant funding will be used to support the delivery of projects on islands.
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6.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing – None. Kirsty Flanagan: Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth Councillor Jim Lynch, Policy Lead for Economic Development, Islands, Rural Communities and Housing 13th August 2025 For further information contact: Fergus Murray, Head of Development and Economic Growth fergus.murray@argyll-bute.gov.uk Daniel MacIntyre – Empty Business Property Officer daniel.macintyre@argyll-bute.gov.uk