Scotland has enormous potential to deliver the homes people need. Yet families, young professionals and first-time buyers still face limited supply and rising costs.
Both the industry and government have signalled a commitment to building more homes, but the pace at which we can deliver them is increasingly constrained by a set of complex, interconnected challenges.
Few industries sit so directly at the heart of Scotland’s economic future. When housebuilding is working effectively it does far more than provide homes. It creates jobs, drives investment into local communities and fuels activity through supply chains and infrastructure development.
Get it right and construction can become one of the most powerful engines of inclusive growth in the country. But too often the system that should enable progress instead slows it down.
At the core of the problem is Scotland’s planning system. Our 32 local authorities each operate independently with their own priorities and processes. While some perform well, many councils aren’t moving at pace. Collectively we are failing to unlock development opportunities quickly enough to meet demand.
The timelines are striking. Local development plans can take five to seven years from initial draft to adoption and disputes over land allocations or policy interpretation add further delays. For developers seeking to bring forward new homes, this creates a cycle of uncertainty that slows delivery and reduces supply. As material costs rise, this creates a challenging environment to operate within.
Recent policy changes have compounded the challenge. National Planning Framework 4 removed the presumption in favour of sustainable development in circumstances where councils do not have an up-to-date housing plan or where there was less than a five-year supply of effective housing land.
In practice, this has weakened the mechanism that previously encouraged local authorities to plan positively for housing.
Today, more than a third of councils still lack an up-to-date plan. In essence, there is no value to increase supply where new plans take longer to prepare than expected or quite simply where current land supply is exhausted.
National housing target
If we are serious about unlocking delivery, we must address this imbalance. Setting a national housing target of 25,000 homes per year, reinstating a rolling five-year land supply, reintroducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development where plans are outdated, and encouraging councils to approve planning applications on newly allocated sites as the plan progresses would provide the much needed momentum.
Equally important is properly funding planning authorities so they can carry out their duties efficiently.
Planning reforms and investment initiatives could unlock new development opportunities
- Alison Condie
At Barratt Redrow, we plan long-term. Our strategies look five to ten years ahead, identifying land that aligns with local development plans, growth corridors and infrastructure investment. This enables us to bring sites forward quickly once permission is granted.
At Durieshill in Stirling we have commenced construction on a 3,000-home community to be delivered over 20 years, ensuring homes for today and tomorrow. Our partnerships with organisations such as the RSPB are crucial to allowing us to work with future generations in mind, guiding us in building nature-friendly developments and demonstrate what is required to address the climate and nature emergencies.
But fixing the planning system is only part of the challenge. Even when development opportunities are unlocked, the construction sector must have the workforce in place to build what has been approved.
Scotland is facing a deep and persistent skills shortage that is already affecting delivery. Skills Development Scotland estimates that the sector will require as many as 10,000 additional skilled workers by 2028 to meet demand. This pressure is only likely to intensify as the rapidly growing renewable energy sector attracts skilled workers with higher salaries and new opportunities.
Attracting people into construction is as much a cultural challenge as a policy one. The sector suffers from an image problem, with too few young people seeing it as a respected and aspirational career path.
We must change that perception.
Scotland stands at a pivotal moment
At Barratt Redrow, we are proud to support an active schools outreach programme designed to engage young people with the opportunities our industry offers. But for real impact, this effort must be scaled and supported across the wider sector.
Scotland stands at a pivotal moment. Planning reforms and investment initiatives could unlock new development opportunities, and the government’s ambitions for housing and infrastructure are clear. Yet without decisive action on planning and a concerted focus on workforce development, many of these opportunities will remain unrealised.
Alison Condie is regional managing director in Scotland for Barratt Redrow, the UK’s largest housebuilder delivering homes across the country through its Barratt and David Wilson Homes brands.
Partner Content in association with Barratt Redrow