More than 1,200 homes are lying empty across Dumfries and Galloway.
The local authority declared a housing emergency earlier this year, with hundreds of homeless people being sent to private B&Bs due to a housing shortage.
But a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats has revealed 1,211 homes in the region have been lying empty for more than six months – and 63 of them have been unused for a decade.
The data also shows there are nearly 28,000 empty homes across the country.
The party’s housing spokesperson, Paul McGarry, said: “Under the SNP, there has been a massive failure to tackle Scotland’s housing crisis.
“Tens of thousands of homes are lying empty all while the number of people sleeping rough and moving between temporary accommodation shoots up to record levels. That is just palpably wrong.
“The SNP have made things worse by taking an axe to the housing budget and failing to build the thousands of homes they promised for social rent.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to bring thousands of empty homes back into use, maximising existing buildings and stock, as well as building more homes and re-establishing social rent as a viable, long-term option.”
The party asked all of Scotland’s councils how many homes were long-term vacant or empty for more than six months, with 30 of the 32 providing data.
Figures from Dumfries and Galloway show 1,211 homes were deemed vacant. 331 had been empty for more than two years, 142 for more than five years and 63 for more than 10 years.
The data also reveal that in 2023/24, 71 properties were returned to use.
Dumfries and Galloway Council declared a housing emergency in June, just weeks after the Scottish Government did the same.
In October, the council’s social work committee was told that in 2023/24, there were 669 cases where homeless people had to live in B&Bs – resulting in the local authority committing more than 300 breaches of government rules on accommodation standards.
It also emerged that last year there were 243 cases of households living in temporary accommodation – a six-year high.
And in the first half of 2024/25, the council received 641 homeless applications.
A council spokesman said: “Dumfries and Galloway Council is deeply committed to supporting our region’s communities, and we are currently working with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive housing emergency action plan.
“Housing challenges affect many local authority areas and we are determined to find practical, lasting solutions tailored to the needs of the region. This effort includes collaboration with partners such as the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership.
“A detailed report outlining recommended approaches will be presented at the next meeting of the tackling poverty, inequalities and housing sub committee.
“We understand the critical role empty properties can play in addressing the demand for homes, and we are actively working with property owners to bring these homes back into use.”
Scotland’s Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “Tackling the housing emergency remains an urgent matter for the Scottish Government and we are supporting local authorities to encourage them to work at a rapid pace to identify properties and bring them back into use.
“We previously announced the allocation of an additional £40 million to councils to purchase properties or to bring empty social homes back into use.
“We will also invest a further £40 million for this purpose next year. This will build on the success of our programme to enable the acquisition of existing homes, which spent more than £83 million last year and delivered almost 1,500 affordable homes.