Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Màiri McAllan MSP, used her first appearance before the sector to strike an optimistic but pragmatic tone at the Homes for Scotland 25th annual conference, where the organisation launched its Homes Build Futures manifesto.
Homes for Scotland Chief Executive, Jane Wood, called on delegates and the wider public to pledge their support for the campaign and to share “what makes a home” to them via the campaign website, before introducing the Cabinet Secretary.
Addressing delegates at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, McAllan said she was “optimistic about what we might be able to achieve” but emphasised that delivery, in her view, depended on making improvements to three specific areas: “funding, policy certainty, and a stable and predictable regulatory and planning environment.”
She told the audience, “I believe that, whatever is wrong, we have the tools in this country to sort it,” while warning of the “delicate balance” involved in ensuring that unintended negative consequences as a result of policy decisions are minimised.
The Cabinet Secretary also acknowledged concerns over the viability of development on brownfield sites, signalling that funding support for remediation and regeneration would remain a priority. Planning reform also featured prominently in her remarks, with a promise to look “very carefully at whether NPF4 is helping or hindering delivery,” likely to resonate with developers who have voiced frustration over the framework’s impact since its introduction.
McAllan also addressed the language of crisis that often surrounds public policy debates. “We’re guilty in Scotland, in the UK in general, of labelling everything as an emergency… If everything is an emergency, then, by definition, nothing is,” she said. “But housing is a legitimate emergency. We have to make sure that people across the board, including local government, are treating it as such.”
That framing reflected her determination to ensure that housing moves higher up the political and policy agenda, particularly as the Scottish Government faces competing demands on resources across portfolios.
In a notable intervention on climate and regulation, McAllan raised the possibility of taking a second look at net zero regulations to support housing delivery. Interestingly, she pointed to recent steps taken in California by Governor Gavin Newsom, suggesting that Scotland could consider a similar relaxation of regulations where they were shown to be obstructing progress. While not committing to a specific course of action, the comment indicated a willingness to revisit previous assumptions (arguments she spearheaded in her previous role as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy) in pursuit of a more balanced approach.
At the end of the Q&A session, moderated by conference chair Stephen Jardine, a snap poll suggested 76% of delegates did not think the newly unveiled Housing Emergency Action Plan was adequate to have an effect before the election in May.
The appearance marked McAllan’s first major outing in her new role, and it was one closely watched by an industry eager for clear signals on the Scottish Government’s direction. While she offered no new pledges, her remarks suggested a pragmatic, problem-solving approach and a recognition that housing, unlike many other policy areas, is an “emergency” requiring urgent and coordinated action.
Ms McAllan will be speaking at The Business of Housing 2026, in association with the Sunday Times Scotland on 03 February 2026. To register and find out more information, click here.
Homes for Scotland would like to hear from you about what makes a home for you. To add your voice to their campaign, click here.
