Housebuilders have urged the Scottish government to speed up planning and simplify regulation if they want to see 110,000 affordable homes built by 2032.
- 62 weeks for major house planning applications
- New build starts decreased by 18 per cent over the last nine months
- 110,000 new affordable homes target by 2032 unlikely
Rising housebuilding costs in Scotland leave too many out in the cold
Housebuilders north of the border are calling on the Scottish government to cut red tape and make it easier to build new homes quickly and economically.
The call followshousing minister Paul McLennan’s ministerial statement yesterday on delivering the homes that Scotland needs.
In it, he said the Scottish government had devoted £100m as a basis to grow with institutional investment to at least £500m to support the building of 2,800 mid-market rent homes.
He also announced a£22m investment in a charitable bond scheme to enable housing associations to deliver 150 homes.
Homes for Scotland, HoS, policy director Fionna Kell said: “Given the scale and severity of the current situation, those in need of a new home deserve better than that.”
The trade body for Scottish housebuilders claimed this was insufficient given the rising costs of building.
Itquoted a story inThe Timesabout the £8m cost of building 15 affordable homes in the former mining town ofTwechar, East Dunbartonshire. This meant each home would cost £535,800 to build.
On this basis, HoS, has calculated the money pledged by Mr McLennan would fund the delivery of just over40homes.
East Dunbartonshire council’s finance chief Jamie Robertson told Scottish MPs green measures, new regulatory standards and a lack of sites were driving up costs.
In January last year, the government adopted environmental design standards for all new buildings equivalent to Passivhaus.
Part of the reason for the Twechar scheme’s priciness is a low carbon heating system, electric vehicle charging points and extra space for a home office.
Ms Kell said the current regulatory system served to “hamper the delivery of new homes rather than promote them”.
Planning delays are a huge obstacle
She said an underfunded and under-resourced planning system meant that major housing applications took an average of 62 weeks to process.
“Speak to any home builder and they will tell you that the planning and consenting processes are the biggest inhibitors to all-tenure housing delivery.
“Add to this the cumulative impact of new and proposed regulation which is now estimated to be adding about £30,000 in additional costs to the construction of a new home and it’s clear to see the challenges involved in housing delivery.”
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development finance lenders were worried that Scotland had become too expensive for SME developers to build.
The Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers has warned the Scottish government’s target of 110,000 affordable new homes by 2032 is unlikely to happen.
Government statistics for all new build starts show 19,404 last financial year compared with 16,404 in 2023-4 – a 15 per cent drop.
The Scottish government has come under intense criticism for cutting £200m from the affordable housing supply programme in the 2024-25 Budget.
LinkedIn Question: What changes should the Scottish Government make if it wants to achieve its target?