A housing emergency cannot be solved by ambition alone. It requires a system capable of delivering homes at the pace and scale Scotland needs.
In 2023, Argyll and Bute Council became the first local authority in Scotland to declare a housing emergency. As other councils and organisations followed suit, the Scottish Government formally declared a national housing emergency in May 2024 and set an ambitious target to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. However, translating that ambition into reality presents significant challenges for the housing sector.
At a recent industry roundtable, a panel of industry professionals discussed the challenges facing housing delivery in Scotland today. One message came through loud and clear: Scotland doesn’t have an ambition problem. It has a delivery problem. The question now is whether existing systems and processes offer the agility required to meet this ambitious objective.
The industry is facing a ‘perfect storm’
Developers are being asked to build more affordable homes, meet higher standards, increase housing supply while simultaneously being required to deliver against a growing number of policy objectives. Affordable housing, net zero commitments, biodiversity requirements, building safety reforms and design quality expectations are all arriving at a time when construction costs remain higher, labour shortages continue to impact capacity, and land supply remains constrained.
The concern isn’t any specific policy in isolation. It’s the combined impact of multiple policies landing at the same time, where every new requirement adds cost, complexity or delay to a system already under significant strain. The issue isn’t about a lack of willingness to build homes. The challenge is whether the conditions exist to build them at the pace required.
Planning is the greatest barrier to delivery
A common theme throughout the day was how much red tape there is around planning permission and restrictions, with many developers agreeing that the problem lies around inconsistency. Lengthy approval times, inconsistent decision-making and growing uncertainty within the planning system as the main barriers to delivery. While policy ambitions continue to evolve, many participants argued that the processes needed to turn those ambitions into completed homes have become increasingly slow and complex. The general feeling around the table was that the current system isn’t moving quick enough to match the volume of housing Scottish Government wants to see built.
Developers spoke about lengthy approval times, inconsistent decision making and a planning process that has become increasingly difficult to navigate. A reccurring frustration was the gap between professional recommendations and final decisions, with planning criteria often perceived as open to interpretation and leaving developers uncertain about how proposals will ultimately be assessed. Even where planning officers support an application, developments can still face significant delays or refusal through committee processes.
The regulatory challenge: Why adding more approvals and regulation isn’t the answer
More regulation does not automatically mean better outcomes. The issue raised was not whether these policies are well intended, rather whether they are solving the problem they are designed to address. For example, whether additional layers of compliance actually improves safety in developments that already operate with extensive quality assurance systems, or if this is an excessive step at a time where sensible streamlining of processes is being called for.
Another consideration of increased regulation is the cost implications. Every new requirement that gets put in place comes with a cost attached. Whether that cost falls on developers, landowners or ultimately homeowners, it still impacts affordability, creating a further obstacle to the delivery of new homes.
Turning ambition into delivery
If the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 is to become a reality, there needs to be more focus on creating the conditions that allow homes to be built. That means a planning system that is consistent and capable of making decisions at pace. It means recognising when policy objectives conflict with one another – building safe homes and delivering more homes should not be competing objectives, but the benchmark for success.
Scotland’s housing emergency is well documented. The next step is ensuring the system is equipped to respond to it because ultimately, homes are not delivered through ambition alone. They are delivered through a system that supports people to build them.
