Scottish builders urge procurement reform

The latest quarterly survey of Scottish Building Federation members shows they feel it is unlikely the Scottish Government will meet its target of delivering 50,000 new affordable homes by 2021 without reforms to procurement.

The survey of federation members, who represent hundreds of building companies in Scotland, highlights that by focusing on price, current procurement practices will not deliver the mix and quality of housing Scotland needs for the future.

Employers responding to the survey are asked to rate how confident they feel about the prospects for their business over the next 12 months compared to the past year.

For the second survey period in a row, industry confidence has been rated negative at -3, a marginal improvement on the previous survey rating of -5.

Industry employers responding to the survey were asked how likely they think it is that the Scottish Government will achieve its affordable homes target.

More than three-quarters said they thought it was “unlikely” that the Scottish Government would achieve the target.

Only 9% said they thought the target was likely to be met, with 13% of respondents predicting the Scottish Government would definitely will not meet this target.

Scottish Building Federation managing director Vaughan Hart said: “I think this latest negative confidence rating reflects the fact that the construction industry dislikes uncertainty and the reality is that we are currently living through very uncertain times.

“There is obviously a genuine concern within the construction sector that, based on its current approach to procurement, the Scottish Government is not going to reach its affordable housing target.

“At the same time, there is equally a concern that current housing procurement decisions are too much driven by cost above all other considerations.”

Vaughan Hart said we are living through “very uncertain times”.