Scottish ministers to attend roundtable on challenges in housebuilding sector

Scottish ministers are to hear first-hand of the challenges facing housebuilders.

Housing minister Paul McLennan and public finance minister Ivan McKee will attend a special roundtable organised by Homes for Scotland (HFS) on Wednesday August 21.

The group, which represents around 200 organisations, is demanding “urgent regulatory reform” amid a reduction in the small and medium enterprise (SME) housebuilding sector.

Independent research published by the group earlier this year found the proportion of new homes sold by those building between three and 49 homes per year had fallen from around 40% in 2017 to 20% in 2023.

Speaking ahead of the roundtable, HFS chief executive Jane Wood said the figures painted a “sobering picture” of the challenges facing the sector.

She said: “With SMEs essential for building out rural and brownfield sites and the added context of a national housing emergency and a staggering 28% of Scottish households (693,000) identified as being in some form of housing need, what further evidence does the Scottish Government require to take action and introduce the regulatory reform required to facilitate the delivery of much-needed, warm and sustainable new homes?”

Ms Wood said she was “grateful to the ministers for housing and public finance for joining us this Wednesday” to hear first-hand about the challenges, adding: “HFS and its members are ready to work with them to ensure Scotland has a positive regulatory environment which fosters housing growth rather than diminishing it.”

Mark Griffin, housing spokesman for Scottish Labour, said SME homebuilders were the “backbone” of the sector.

He said: “Here in Scotland we need to reform our planning system to ensure that our SME homebuilders have the support and stability they need to build the homes that people desperately need.

“The planning system needs to be quicker and fairer for homebuilders, particularly those small and medium-sized companies.

“We need to streamline planning regulations to help local authorities fast-track approvals. This means adopting simplified processes and cutting red tape to boost development on small sites.”

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “SME housebuilders make a valuable contribution to Scotland’s housing stock by delivering high quality homes in communities across the country.

“We recognise that there are specific challenges faced by SMEs within the wider context of a challenging building environment across the housing sector.

“A well-resourced planning system plays a crucial role in supporting housebuilding and we are now working at pace to support planning services through an increase in resources and skills development.

“Ministers look forward to engaging directly with SME housebuilders to hear about their challenges and ideas for building the capacity of the planning system so that it can better enable good quality development.

“Since 2007, we have supported the delivery of more than 130,000 affordable homes, with more than 93,000 of those being for social rent.

“We will continue to build on that record with almost £600 million of investment in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme this year and we remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.”