Reflects unfortunate reality across Scotland
Homes for Scotland (HFS), the representative body for those organisations building the majority of the country’s new homes, including Affordable Housing, has responded to this morning’s declaration of a housing emergency by City of Edinburgh Council.
Chief Executive Jane Wood said:
“This is a dreadful position for our capital city to be in but unfortunately it reflects much of the reality across the whole of Scotland.
“Ensuring we have enough homes that people can afford and that meet the housing needs and aspirations of all those who live in, or want to live in, Scotland is fundamental to the social wellbeing of our population and our economic success.
“Whilst we welcome the attention being drawn to the housing crisis by the convener of Edinburgh’s Housing Committee, the Council must look at the consequences of the emerging City Plan 2030, which seeks to deliver fewer affordable homes than the Council itself identifies are required.
“This works against the aim of delivering more homes and will actually result in the inequality and affordability issues that are already so prevalent being further exacerbated.”
Wood highlighted the setting of a housing supply target that does not seek to meet all of the housing need and demand that the Council itself has evidenced; the brownfield-centric approach to the allocation of new sites for residential development, when a blended approach has historically proved vital to delivering enough homes; and the unviable and unavailable nature of many of the identified brownfield sites, many of which will be impossible to deliver due to other Plan policies.
She added:
“Our concerns are further heightened by the significant reduction in Edinburgh’s Minimum All Tenure Housing Land Requirement numbers published as part of the revised draft National Planning Framework 4 and which have fallen from 41,300 to 36,750.
“Independent analysis has already evidenced that the Plan is likely to significantly underdeliver the amount of homes required, with further research showing that it would result in the displacement of c400 businesses which would translate into the loss of 3,600 jobs with a cumulative loss to Edinburgh’s economy over ten years of c£2.6bn.
“We see from today’s motion that the Council notes the importance of collaborative working and hope that this involves those delivering the homes of all tenures that are required and recognises the interdependencies between private for sale and Affordable housing.
“We must stop going round in circles on the housing crisis and find transformational solutions to effectively resolve it. We and our members are committed to achieving this in partnership with local and central government.”
2 November 2023