Housing warnings worth heeding

There are two sides to a story, an adage the current housing debate reflects very clearly.

People object to new developments. They object to the inevitable increase in traffic, the added pressure on facilities such as schools and hospitals, shopping facilities and GP services, and the clusters of homes on their horizons when once was woodland, or rolling green fields. But there’s the other side of the coin. Trade body Homes for Scotland, which represents some 200 organisations who can deliver around 95% of Scotland’s new homes, points out that new homes are vital to sustain our communities and economies.

Scotland is in crisis, it points out, with new home builds at a level 40% below those of 2007, and a population growth, in some regions, higher than the national average.

We simply don’t have enough homes for younger generations, it says, and that includes growing families and young people wanting to live independently.

Homes for Scotland also warns that young people may not have the option of staying near their families when they grow up – imagine generations deprived of regular interactions with grandparents?

Of course, you could argue that an organisation promoting new housing will do just that, but there is logic to this reasoning that is well worth bearing in mind.

A planned future, after all, is a far more desirable future.