A housebuilding industry insider has warned Holyrood housing law changes will add £30,000 to the cost of each new home.
The senior figure said key elements in tackling the housing crisis are within the Scottish Government’s power to change and that these threaten to hike up prices more now than “Brexit and inflation”, which the SNP has cited.
It comes as Paul McLennan, Scottish housing minister, was described as being “out of touch” by Conservative MSP and housing spokesman Miles Briggs after announcing a £22 million investment in 150 homes, in the wake of a £200m housing budget cut.
Mr Briggs said the funding “is not new and is a drop in the ocean”.
Mr McLennan said: “Government understands the urgency of this crisis and we are using all our powers to address it.
"But it should be acknowledged Westminster's policies have left us grappling with an emergency that requires systemic change and investment at UK-wide level.
"I once again call on the Labour UK Government to use its upcoming budget to scrap the bedroom tax, reverse the 9% capital cut to Scotland's budget and permanently uplift the local housing allowance."
Brexit, inflation and Westminster as the root causes of the housing emergency, with policy failures stemming over decades.
Fionna Kell, director of policy at sector body Homes for Scotland, which represents organisations “together delivering the majority of new homes of all tenures”, said: “We of course acknowledge the financial pressures facing the Scottish Government and are encouraged by a recent change of tone and more positive engagement but it is time to stop pointing to“These issues have clearly been important, but they are nowhere near as pressing as the challenges posed by an underfunded and under-resourced planning system which takes over 62 weeks to process a major housing application or the overall policy and regulatory environment which currently serves to hamper the delivery of new homes rather than promote them.”
She said that “these two areas are completely within the control of the Scottish Government which could act immediately to make the change”.
READ MORE:
- 'Collapse in housebuilding’ brings dire consequences
- Developer cites housing law as new homes axed
- Concern over 'legal implications' of new housing plans
Ms Kell said: “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 c£30k in additional costs to the construction of a new home and it’s clear to see the challenges involved in housing delivery.”
In reference to a perceived lack of urgency around the housing emergency, she added: “We’re still waiting on the blue lights to be turned on.”
Also this week, the lead story in our Business HQ Monthly supplement was deputy business editor Scott Wright’s exclusive which explored ways of reinvigorating city life.
“Two of the best-known figures on the Scottish commercial property scene have signalled hope that a brighter future can be secured for Glasgow’s ageing office stock, as debate continues to rage over how best to reverse the declining fortunes of the city centre,” he writes.
“Andy Cunningham and Colin Mackenzie, former rivals who linked up to launch Glasgow agency MC2 earlier this year, say moves to transform post-war office blocks into smaller, flexible spaces with interior designs more akin to hotels and homes are breathing new life into older buildings in the city.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel