HOMES for Scotland (HFS) has welcomed the ‘renewed commitment’ from John Swinney to addressing the housing emergency and working more closely with the sector to boost delivery across all tenures.
In a meeting, senior leaders from across the housebuilding industry engaged in a ‘constructive and positive dialogue’ with the first minister and new cabinet secretary for housing Màiri McAllan. The discussion focused on the state of the sector, governance of housing systems, and the need to unlock supply across all tenures.
HFS said emphasis was placed on the importance of ‘deeper, more structured’ collaboration between the housebuilding sector and the Scottish Government to ensure policy development and implementation are informed by the insight of HFS members, who are responsible for most new homes built across Scotland.
HFS chief executive Jane Wood said, “The first minister’s direct engagement with the home building sector sends a clear and welcome signal that the Scottish Government is serious about responding to Scotland’s housing emergency. New homes are the foundation of thriving communities but without urgent action and genuine collaboration with the sector to understand and tackle the regulatory and planning challenges that currently impact new housing delivery, the emergency will only deepen.
“It is critical that this dialogue results in meaningful change – from a more effective regulatory framework that can foster a supportive and resourced planning regime to a long-term policy agenda that can provide the certainty that our members require to invest.”
The first minister reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s commitment to increasing housing delivery across all tenures and acknowledged the need for urgent progress in unblocking barriers to development.
John Swinney said, “Delivering more housing will help create a better future for many and contribute to my government’s highest priority of eradicating child poverty as well as helping to grow the economy. The housing secretary and I met with Homes for Scotland representatives to discuss how we can work collaboratively to achieve that aim, including how our investment of £768m this year in affordable homes can help increase housing supply.
“By working with Homes for Scotland and other partners, we have taken significant action to tackle the housing emergency over the past year. This has included helping deliver over 7,400 affordable homes and supporting an estimated 2,457 households with children into affordable housing in the year to end March 2025.
“We recognise the situation remains challenging, which is why the challenge of tackling the housing emergency has been brought right into the heart of government. My Programme for Government reiterates our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.”
Jane Wood added, “As ever, HFS and its members stand ready to play their part in increasing the supply of high-quality, energy-efficient and affordable homes across all tenures to tackle the housing emergency and provide their crucial expertise on how Scotland’s regulatory framework can deliver rather than block the new homes so desperately needed by Scotland’s people. We look forward to engaging in a new positive partnership with the Scottish Government and collaborating with the new cabinet secretary for housing over the summer period as she develops an expedited plan to tackle the housing emergency.”
