Scots to ease planning rules to meet housing need

31 Jul 08
The Scottish Government has announced measures to ensure that councils have enough land to achieve long-term house-building targets.

01 August 2008

The Scottish Government has announced measures to ensure that councils have enough land to achieve long-term house-building targets.

Giving details of changes that will relax current planning rules, Scottish planning minister Stewart Maxwell said the aim was to ensure that sufficient land was brought forward 'more effectively' to enable new housing 'of the right kind, of the right numbers, in the right places'.

A new version of Scottish planning policy guidance would make it easier for councils to ensure they always had a five-year supply of suitable land for housing and that land was available when required, Maxwell said.

He added: 'It will provide a platform for the industry to build upon in the year ahead and help to ensure that the long-term national ambition to increase housing supply in Scotland to 35,000 a year by the middle of the next decade is met.'

The announcement this week coincided with a call by housebuilders' body Homes for Scotland for measures that would allow the crisis-hit Scottish industry to sell land and homes to housing associations and registered landlords.

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