RICS responds to Scottish Government’s Housing Emergency Action Plan

Yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Mhari McAllan set out Scottish Government’s Housing Emergency Action Plan, which details the Government’s next set of actions to tackle homelessness, mitigate rent increases and deliver additional housing across multiple tenure-types. Key announcements from the Plan can be found below.

• Deliver £4.9 billion of investment over the next four-years years for social and affordable housing.
• Introduce a new all-tenure delivery ambition, working with the housebuilding sector to increase delivery across all sectors by at least 10% each year over the next three years.
• Increase the supply of affordable housing by increasing investment in acquisitions from £40 million to £80 million.
• Bring Awaab’s Law into force in Scotland, from March 2026.
• Introduce a long-term system of rent control to support keeping private rents affordable, subject to Parliament agreeing the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
• Increased focus on – through a Ministerial direction – the implementation of national planning policy on housing where a planning application is for 10 or more proposed new homes on land not allocated for housing.
   

Responding to the announcement, Robert Toomey, Senior Public Affairs Manager at RICS Scotland said: “There is a lot to be welcomed, not least the announcement itself recognising the urgency of the housing crisis in Scotland.

The headline announcement of £4.9 billion investment over four years for social and affordable housing is positive, with the multi-year funding announced giving assurances to social landlords and developers. The ambition to bring Awaab’s Law into force in Scotland is also welcomed and is an area we have championed, with the recent publication of the RICS damp and mould consumer guide.

This is a good start, leading up to next years’ elections; however, further increases in funding for housing delivery across multiple tenure-types will be required to mitigate the sharp fall in housing starts that Scotland has faced recently. Additional detail will also be needed on many of the policy ambitions and we look forward to working with Government when this detail is announced.”