Scotland's housing emergency must be dealt with, whoever wins

Do elections change anything? You would hope so otherwise what is the point but sometimes you wonder whether politicians are attuned to the needs of the electorate. Certainly, for homebuyers, landlords, tenants, the thousands of homeless in Scotland, the adults and children in temporary accommodation, and the 115,000 on a social housing waiting list they must be hoping that the forthcoming Scottish election makes a difference.

The manifestos from the six main partes in Scotland touch, to differing degrees, on the key issue of housing. Given that we are still in a housing emergency across the whole of Scotland it is extraordinary that this has not played a key part in the campaign so far.

But each of the manifestos do address housing and all agree that building more houses is key to Scotland’s plight. The SNP stick to their 110,000 affordable homes to be built between 2020 and 2031 which most agree will not be achieved. Labour proposes building 25,000 new homes a year across all tenures to 2031 which has not been achieved in Scotland since 2003-04 to 2007-08 so it is ambitious but laudable.

The Conservatives will end Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) and reduce the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) on second and investment homes to 4 per cent while the Greens want immediate rent controls reintroduced and to reduce the rate maximum rents can rise annually from the current 6 per cent.

Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all call for greater engagement and partnership with the private rented sector (PRS) recognising the role it plays in meeting housing needs while the SNP want to offer first refusal at a “fair market rate” to tenants if their landlord is going to sell their property.

But what does this tell us about what is likely to happen? What is needed is the implementation of a range of changes across the housing sector from the easing of planning regulations to improved access to funds to support all tenures of building. There needs to be more private houses, more homes in the private rented sector, and a vast increase in the volume of social housing being built over a decade long period if the current housing emergency is to be addressed.

There needs to be a greater sense of urgency in delivering policies. Why, for example, is the new housing body More Homes Scotland proposed by the SNP not due to be established for at least another year when the need for change is immediate?

There must be greater acknowledgement that all tenures in Scotland are essential to resolving the current emergency. More housebuilding needs to occur so there should be fewer building restrictions, encouraging more investment, and a welcoming government keen to make Scotland a much more attractive place for homebuyers, property investors, and landlords to come.

There is a concern that, regardless of the result on May 7, the housing sector ends up experiencing more of the same. I would hope that whatever the composition of the new Scottish government they will put housing at the top of the agenda and ensure that the current emergency is addressed immediately and doesn’t exist in five years’ time. Anything less would be a disgrace.