A £200,000 scheme to make empty homes available to renters in Irvine and Kilwinning has been “a damp squib”, the council has admitted.

Affordable rented housing continues to be in short supply in North Ayrshire, yet more than 600 homes across the area are sitting empty, and many of them will remain empty for many years.

Last week, members of the NAC cabinet met to consider a draft 'empty homes strategy’ aimed at finally tackling the problem.

In June 2013, analysis found there were 630 empty homes in North Ayrshire. Most are empty for less than a year, but just over one in five remain empty for more than three years, often to the detriment of the surrounding community.

A survey of all empty home owners revealed that 25 per cent are sitting empty because the owners are trying to sell them.

And 64 per cent of all empty stock are one or two bedroom properties, which are in desperately short supply.

It’s well known that empty homes are an issue for communities with a waiting list for people who need affordable housing.

Last March, the council unveiled a £200,000 scheme to help bring some of the privately-owned homes that are currently lying empty back into use.

Money was made available to property owners through the North Ayrshire Empty Homes Loan Fund, provided they agreed to bring homes up to an acceptable standard within a set timescale, and to then make them available at an affordable rent for at least five years.

However, when asked about the subject at last week’s meeting, Alex Adrain, interim head of housing, said: “The empty homes fund has been a bit of a damp squib.

“There’s currently only one property involved in the scheme in North Ayrshire.

“We are looking to amend the criteria, for selling property. We’ve been constricted in that we can only use the fund to bring properties back into rent use, but hopefully we can amend it so it can be used for homes that are then sold on.” Empty homes are a particular problem in Arran and the North Coast, but do crop up in neighbourhoods across North Ayrshire - even by the council leader.

Cllr Willie Gibson told members: “There’s a house next to me that’s been sitting empty for 20 years because of some legal issue.

“There’s another one at the shorefront that was on fire three weeks and hasn’t been properly boarded up.

“I’ve made an issue of both of these in the past, but I’ve not seen any change - and I’m the leader.” The new draft strategy - which draws together a number of policies aimed at solving the problem - was approved by cabinet.