Councils are to be encouraged to identify and release more land for housing under a new planning policy released for consultation today.
The draft Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing (SPP3) will facilitate new land being supplied for housing developments and ensure best use is made of existing housing land allocations. The government says that SPP3 will underpin the delivery of its key housing policy objectives to deliver more homes of higher quality and higher environmental standards.
The draft policy encourages councils to work together to better assess and identify housing requirements across housing market areas, such as houses in multiple occupation, and encourages improved standards of energy efficiency, quality and sustainability of new homes.
The draft also provides guidance on the delivery of housing through the existing planning system, and that which will be brought about by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006.
Planning Minister Stewart Stevenson said: “Scotland needs more homes. We must improve the supply of homes to buy, to rent and for low cost home ownership across Scotland, especially in areas facing housing pressures.
“While demand for new housing, particularly affordable housing, has risen in recent years, there has been no corresponding increase in housebuilding. If Scotland is to benefit from more sustainable economic growth, we must build more homes to higher standards. A modern, efficient, planning system is key to unlocking that.
“Development plans must be central to ensuring the right kinds of houses are in the right places. The new policy requires councils to take a strategic look at housing need and supply. Where there are particular pressures on housing supply, the policy allows quicker release of appropriate land and more effective use of existing land allocated to housing – this will be central to providing more houses to meet affordable housing need and market demand.”
Communities Minister, Stewart Maxwell, added: “These proposals to reform the planning system are an important step towards our goal to boost the number of new homes built in Scotland by 10,000 per year to 35,000 by the middle of the next decade – as outlined in our discussion document on the future of housing, Firm Foundations.
“It's clear that the current arrangements are simply not delivering enough new homes, adding to problems with affordability which have priced too many people out of the housing market. We have already established the Housing Supply Task Force to identify obstacles that are hampering new developments and this draft planning policy further demonstrates our determination to put in place concrete measures to address the real problems.”
Responding to the deaft policy, Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: "Greens recognise that Scotland faces a major shortage of affordable housing, but just releasing more land won't solve the problem if the market continues building for profit rather than for social need. We need to build greener homes without destroying the open green spaces which help turn housing developments into real communities."
The consultation on the draft Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing can be viewed here, and the consultation will run until 31 March 2008, with publication of the final revised SPP3 intended for summer 2008.
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