Planning delays are biggest barrier to housebuilding, Brodies survey finds

Delays in obtaining planning consent are the most significant barrier to building new homes, according to a new survey of the Scottish housebuilding sector.

It was conducted by law firm Brodies, which canvassed the opinions of 120 senior figures representing housebuilders, developers, contractors, architects, professional advisers and funders on the most significant barriers they had faced in building new homes in Scotland over the past year.

The length of time taken to secure planning approval was cited by almost half of respondents (47.5%) as the biggest issue, with 37% predicting it would continue to be the single largest problem over the coming year. Infrastructure constraints/costs and access to development finance were cited by 20% and 12% respectively.

Brodies comment that the survey highlights the need for greater collaboration between policymakers, planners, developers and financiers to tackle the shortage of housing stock in Scotland. It has been estimated that some 23,000 new homes will need to be built in each year to keep up with the growing number of households in Scotland.

Asked which single measure would most help them meet rising demand for new homes, the relaxation of planning restrictions was cited by 37.5% of respondents, followed by public funding of new infrastructure (31.5%) and public sector initiatives, such as Help to Buy and the National Housing Trust initiative (22%).

Help to Buy – for which no new applications are currently being accepted – was named as the Scottish Government policy that would have the most positive impact on the housebuilding sector, with 34.5% of survey respondents calling for more funding, while 31% chose relaxing section 75/infrastructure requirements and 15% the provision of housebuilding finance to developers.

With significant recent growth in the UK’s private rented sector, almost half of respondents said they were actively considering, or would consider, developing the sector in Scotland.

Commenting on the findings, Tracey Menzies and Alasdair Fleming, who head Brodies’ housebuilding group, said they hoped the survey’s findings would inform discussions between developers, advisers, funders and policymakers with a view to overcoming the current challenges and devising new ways to help Scotland tackle the shortage of new homes.

Neil Collar, head of planning at Brodies, who earlier this year published a white paper setting out his vision for planning reform in Scotland, added: “This survey shows just how vital the planning system is to the delivery of new housing – developers across the country are experiencing delays in consenting and this is proving to be a significant hurdle. The findings chime with my recommendations earlier this year that the system for costing infrastructure upgrades needs to be speeded up; the amount of information required to obtain approval needs to be reduced; and the planning system needs leadership and proper resourcing.”