We’re rising the challen
A ROOF over your head is one of the most basic human needs but, as Homes for Scotland (HFS) marks its 20th anniversary, there are still not enough homes to meet the demands of our rising population.
The trade body was established two decades ago by members of the home building industry to address the shortfall in new housing.
Today, it represents organisations delivering the vast majority of new homes that are built across both social and private sectors.
Build rates increased at the start of the noughties and reached a peak in 2007, at 25,000 annually, before they were decimated by the 2008 financial crisis.
The rate of decline over the next decade has resulted in a deficit of 80,000 homes, says HFS, and in 2019 a total of 20,200 new homes were £200,000 £175,000 £150,000 £125,000 £100,000 £75,000 £50,000 2000 built, showing there is still some way to go.
But the way we live – and our homes – has changed dramatically.
Recent years have seen a doubling in the number of people, mainly young, who rent from private landlords primarily because of the difficulties they face getting on the housing ladder.
More than 400,000 more people live in Scotland today than did in 2001, with nearly a third of people now living alone – further increasing the pressure on housing stock.
“In an ideal world, there should be no requirement for organisations such as ours, which have to work really hard on behalf of the industry to make sure we have the right policy environment to meet the housing needs and aspirations of all those who live here,” says HFS chief executive Nicola Barclay.
“The housing context for Scots, and the operating environment that our members work within, is far from perfect.
“Indeed, so many additional demands have been introduced over the last 20 years that it’s a wonder there is any building at all, and I am told regularly that it has never been harder to get spades in the ground.”
The biggest blockers in getting a new development the green light include delays in the planning system, lack of supporting infrastructure such as schools and water systems, negative attitudes to development, skill shortages, and the on-going issues of mortgage availability and high deposits.
At the turn of this new decade, Scotland is only building at 80 per cent of the level required to meet housing demand, and the country is performing relatively poorly on an international scale in terms of housing development intensity.