A new report has claimed Scotland’s proposed new national housing agency, More Homes Scotland, must be given a ‘clear mandate, formal powers and a practical delivery role’ if it is to help tackle the housing emergency.
The report, More Homes Scotland: Turning a National Housing Agency into a Delivery Machine, produced by Building Relations PR and Burness Paull, captures the findings of a roundtable discussion held in Edinburgh in April with leaders from Scotland’s housing, planning, development, investment and policy sectors.
It finds that Scotland’s housing challenge is not a lack of ambition, but the need for greater alignment across land, infrastructure, planning, finance and policy.
The report reveals support for the ambition behind More Homes Scotland, but warns that the agency risks becoming another ‘blocker’ unless it is empowered to ‘remove barriers, coordinate decision-making and unlock stalled delivery’.
The latest Scottish Government housing statistics show new housebuilding activity fell in the year to December 2025, with 17,336 new homes completed across all sectors, down 13% on the previous year, while starts fell 6% to 14,999.
Affordable Housing Supply Programme completions also fell by 25% in 2025, with starts down 15% and approvals down by 9%.
The report argues Scotland’s housing challenge is systemic, with participants saying delivery is being held back by a fragmented system in which decisions on land, planning, infrastructure, finance and public policy are too often made separately, adding delay, cost and uncertainty to complex projects.
Key recommendations include giving the agency a clear purpose, intervening earlier on stalled sites, improving routes to land and patient capital, and ensuring policy ambition is tested against viability and deliverability. The report also calls for housing to be treated as economic infrastructure, recognising its role in growth, labour mobility, health outcomes, productivity, regeneration and community resilience.
Participants highlighted several immediate barriers to delivery, including constrained land supply, inconsistent planning interpretation across Scotland’s 32 local authorities, fragmented infrastructure approvals, policy layering, viability pressures and a lack of long-term patient capital for smaller builders.
Rachel Colgan, founder of Building Relations, said: “This report captures a clear and urgent message from across the sector. Scotland does not lack ambition when it comes to housing, but it does need a more joined-up, practical and empowered system for delivery. More Homes Scotland has the potential to be a catalyst for real change, but only if it is designed with authority, clarity and commercial credibility from the outset.”
The discussion highlighted the potential role of SMEs in increasing housing supply, particularly in more rural areas. However, contributors warned smaller builders continue to face major barriers, from long planning timescales and upfront capital exposure to infrastructure uncertainty and limited access to finance.
Louise Chambers, real estate partner at Burness Paull LLP, added, “Key sites which could deliver valuable housing can be held back by fragmented ownership, existing infrastructure constraints or other related issues, and could be addressed differently. At the moment that burden falls on the developer, which adds more time, more cost and more viability pressure.”
The full report, More Homes Scotland: Turning a National Housing Agency into a Delivery Machine, is available to read here: Building Relations – More Homes Scotland report
