Guide

Who it's for

Everyone is welcome at our Winter Connections spaces. This includes families with children, young people, adults, over 60s, and everyone in between.

Winter Connections events held during the winter months of 2025 and early 2026 have finished.

Winter Connections is a programme of events and activities across Renfrewshire that are open to everyone.

Winter Connections is built on relationships, places and communities that already exist.

Our spaces are open, free and easy to access. The events and activities are about feeling good and having fun.

Our hosts will provide inclusive, welcoming, respectful, and safe places.

We have separate information available if you'd like to apply for funding to be a Winter Connections host.

Why you should explore your options

Empty homes cost owners on average £14,306.31 per year. Common expenses include:

• lost rent
• council tax payments
• insurance
• security
• maintenance.

By bringing an empty home back into use, you can also help increase housing supply and reduce carbon emissions in Renfrewshire.

What your options are

Our More Homes Officer can give advice and discuss your options to bring your empty home back into use, including:

• Matchmaker Scheme - you can connect with developers looking to buy properties
• VAT discounts - you may be eligible for reduced VAT if your property has been empty over a certain period of time
• merchant discounts - you may be eligible for discounts from participating builders merchants under the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership
• letting opportunities.

Learn more about VAT and merchant discounts (Scottish Empty Homes Partnership website).

If you're interested in the Matchmaker Scheme, fill in this form and email it to allana.mcluskey@renfrewshire.gov.uk:

How to get advice and discuss your options

Contact our More Homes Officer, Allana McLuskey:

• email allana.mcluskey@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone 07811 055 016.

Who can get support

You can receive help or support under the scheme of assistance if you are:

• a property owner
• a private tenant
• a disabled person or if a disabled person lives in your household (where we have assessed that the home requires adaptations to meet their needs).

What support is available

There are 3 main areas of support under the scheme of assistance.

Information and advice

We'll provide a range of advice and information to any homeowner on home repairs, improvements and how to manage these.

This advice is available through council services, partner organisations and local and national advice agencies.

The scheme of assistance provides useful contact emails, phone numbers and links to partner websites.

Practical assistance

We can provide practical assistance towards:

• older and disabled people to live safely in their homes
• owners of empty homes
• missing shares scheme for tenement repairs
• the co-ordination of energy efficiency programmes
• shared repairs in mixed tenure blocks with council properties.

Financial assistance

We can provide financial assistance to people with disabilities to adapt their homes to make them more suitable to live in (where we have assessed that the home requires adaptations to meet their needs).

We can also provide grant support to flat owners in mixed tenure blocks if:

• you're being asked to participate in capital improvement works to common parts where the council or Registered Social Landlords (RSL) own some properties in the building
• you're being asked to participate in council housing regeneration programmes.

How to get support

You can see the full range of help and support available through our scheme of assistance for private homeowners.

Further information

For more information about the scheme of assistance or private housing support, contact our Owner Services Team:

• phone 0300 300 0300
• email ownerservices.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk

If you're a private homeowner, we can offer support to help you maintain, repair and adapt your house.

Section 72 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 requires all local authorities to produce a 'scheme of assistance' for private sector housing.

The scheme of assistance details the help and advice we can provide to owners who need to carry out repairs and improvement work to their homes.

It tells you when we'll provide practical support and financial assistance to private housing which:

• is in disrepair or below the tolerable standard as detailed in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987
• needs to be adapted because a person is disabled.

Financial support can include grants (which you do not need to pay back), but only in limited circumstances.

Non-financial help can include information, advice and practical help to homeowners.

Through a range of actions set out in our Local Housing Strategy, we'll work with partners to:

• encourage owners to take more responsibility for the repair and maintenance of their homes
• support older and disabled people to live independently and safely in their own homes
• support owners in mixed tenure blocks (where there is a mix of both privately owned homes and council or Registered Social Landlord homes) to carry out shared repairs
• bring empty homes back into use
• improve the energy efficiency of homes and reduce fuel poverty
• improve management and maintenance issues in the private rented sector.

What you need to do

Once you contact us and tell us your situation, we'll provide you with the forms that you'll need to complete and return to us.

In your initial message, tell us who you are - for example, a landlord or letting agent. Also tell us what you are planning to do - for example, evicting someone from your property.

Contact us by:

• phone 0300 300 1203
• email preventionteam.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

You have certain legal duties if you're a:

• private landlord
• letting agent
• housing association
• registered social landlord
• lender or creditor to a homeowner.

You must tell us if you plan to:

• evict someone from your property
• repossess someone's home
• take action with the sheriff court or the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland.

This is so we have plenty of notice when someone is at risk of losing their home.

You're legally required to do this by section 11 of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 (legislation.gov.uk website).

Who must pay them

You’ll probably need to pay business rates if you use a building, or part of a building, for:

• business purposes
• other non-domestic purposes, such as education, social care, or waste management.

The Scottish Government has an online calculator for estimating your yearly business rates bill (mygov.scot website).

What you need to do

Find out how to:

• pay your business rates
• apply for business rates relief
• appeal a business rates decision
• pay your Business Improvement District (BID) levy for Paisley town centre
• register for e-billing for business rates
• tell us about a change of ownership for business rates
• tell us about a change of tenancy for business rates
• contact us about business rates.

General Transitional Relief

Your property's rateable value may have changed on 1 April 2026. We will have automatically awarded General Transitional Relief on your account where any increase in your gross bill is more than the maximum increases for 2026–27 listed below:

Find out how to appeal a business rates decision.

Business rates are a tax on non-domestic properties (buildings that people do not live in), such as:

• shops
• offices
• restaurants
• warehouses
• factories.

Find out how business rates are calculated (mygov.scot website).