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Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan

The Minister for Public Finance announced the Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan to the Scottish Parliament on 12 November 2024. It sets out a package of measures to accelerate work on planning support for housing covering actions on policy, delivery, efficiency and capacity, including:

• creation of a Housing Planning Hub to provide brokerage support for housing developments which have stalled in the system
• tripling of the number of bursaries we are offering to students for post graduate study
• stopping of work on the Infrastructure Levy and refocusing on improving guidance on section 75 planning obligations
• considering how Permitted Development Rights, could remove the need for permission, for example for converting flats above shops.

The Delivery Plan sets out further back ground and details on the full package of measures being taken. The work will also benefit wider development and projects, demonstrating the positive and significant role of planning to finding solutions to challenges being faced.

Planning statistics 2023/24

Planning Applications Statistics 2023/2024 were published on Monday 11 November 2024. This publication provides data on the number, type and decision times of planning applications made to Scottish planning authorities during 2023/24.

More support for the delivery of new homes

Actions to help planning authorities will increase the speed of approvals, deliver more new homes and grow the number of planners.

A new Housing Planning Hub will increase the rate at which homes with planning permission are delivered, stimulating Scotland’s housing supply and supporting economic growth. Three times the number of current student bursaries will also be made available to encourage more future planners and address staff shortages.

On average 29,000 homes have been given planning permission in Scotland every year [Competition and Markets Authority – Housebuilding market study], more than the 25,000 industry experts are calling for. The Housing Planning Hub will tackle the reasons for delays, which include waits on decisions for major developments, lengthy negotiations of section 75 agreements, funding issues, or policy requirements to address issues such as flooding or biodiversity.

Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee outlined the actions to Parliament today. He said:

“Planning has not created the housing emergency, but it can help us to find solutions to the challenges we are facing.

“The Scottish Government is focused on working with partner organisations to identify how our planning system can help to provide these solutions.

“This decisive and properly targeted action, based on evidence, will provide more homes and better places for people to live in.”

Background

• The Housing Planning Hub will be operational in early 2025. This will complement the Planning Hub for Hydrogen developments announced as part of the Programme for Government in September – Boosting Scotland’s planning system
• The costs and staffing of the Housing Planning Hub will be met by the Scottish Government. The Hub will see officials working collaboratively with local authorities and industry partners where there is mutual agreement.
• The 2025/26 bursaries will be available for post-graduate study at the Planning Schools in Heriot-Watt, Dundee or Glasgow Universities. Access to internships and industry placements will also be facilitated by the Royal Town Planning Institute

Creating future business leaders

More than £1.9 million has been awarded to create the entrepreneurs of the future and to increase access to business careers.

Pupils will have the opportunity to learn about business from primary one to the end of high school under a new initiative to boost entrepreneurship in Scotland. This follows more than £829,000 being awarded to seven education organisations.

They include Gen+, which is designing lessons that set high school pupils real-world challenges by established entrepreneurs, focused on running aspects of a business, while the University of Strathclyde will provide activity packs that develop entrepreneurial skills in primary school children.

Adults under-represented in business, including women and ethnic minorities, will benefit from £1.08 million awarded to 13 organisations through the Pathways Fund, helping turn their ideas and fledgling businesses into growing enterprises.

Housing Emergency Delivery Plan

On 12 November 2024 the Minister for Public Finance announced in a statement to Parliament, the publication of the planning and the housing emergency: delivery plan in response to the housing emergency. The plan has a focus on four key areas:

• Policy: a strong and consistent planning and policy framework for investment

• Delivery: actively enabling and facilitating development

• Efficiency: an end-to-end approach to improving the efficiency of the system

• Capacity: investing in capacity with access to excellent professional skills and expertise

Keep an eye out on our Planning and Architecture blog page as we will be running a series of short articles that will provide an in-depth look into some of the topics the plan contains.

Permitted Development Rights

One of the commitments made in the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan was to take another look at Permitted Development Rights (PDR) and explore the potential to expand it to streamline the delivery of homes. We are particularly interested in thoughts on the potential role that PDR could play in helping to support town centre living and rural communities and promoting the reuse of vacant or underused buildings.

We have written a blog which explains how you can get involved and make your views heard.