Sector body Homes for Scotland (HFS), whose members deliver the majority of new homes across all tenures, has welcomed today’s confirmation by the Chancellor and Office of Budget Responsibility that planning reform being undertaken in England would add £6.8bn to real GDP in 2029-30 and £15.1bn within ten years.

Kevin Murphy, HFS Director of Planning, said:

“It is positive to see the level of ambition set out by the UK Government in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement today, reaffirming its intent to accelerate new housing delivery in conjunction with reform of its respective planning system. In doing so, the Chancellor has accurately acknowledged the significant economic benefits that new home building can bring, not just across local communities but nationally, in addition to the wide-ranging social benefits such as improved health and education outcomes.

“At the forefront of English planning reform, sits the national objective to deliver 1.3 million new homes by the end of the current Parliament, with the re-introduction of mandatory housing targets across Local Authorities.

“HFS has consistently advocated that this level of ambition be reflected by the Scottish Government, and has called for the adoption of an all-tenure home building target of at least 25,000 homes to be delivered annually to ensure that new housing delivery is recognised throughout Scottish Government Directorates as central to achieving the First Minister’s priorities for Scotland of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency and reforming public services.

“Issuing a clear call to deliver an all-tenure target of at least 25,000 new homes each year in Scotland would give clear strategic direction and intent between national and local policymakers to prioritise new housing delivery. Returning to pre-recession levels of home building in Scotland would generate £3.7bn in total economic output to the Scottish economy and support 87,000 high quality jobs each year.

“In the last two days, statistics have highlighted that new housing starts and completions have declined for the third consecutive year whilst planning processing times for new housing remain far above the statutory timescales in Scotland. In the context of the ongoing housing emergency, these statistics must be a clear call to action for the Scottish Government to implement similar levels of radical reform.”

ENDS

26 March 2025