Viability was identified as the biggest barrier, with rising build costs, infrastructure requirements and inflexible planning obligations stopping progress on both greenfield and urban sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Implementation of NPF4 brought delays and uncertainty, with requirements for design, infrastructure, climate mitigation and the \u2018Town Centre First\u2019 principle increasing complexity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Decision times stayed slow, and the lack of up-to-date local plans added uncertainty, especially for sites that could help supply soon.<\/p>\n
Ben Brough, head of Scotland development at Savills, said: \u201cWe are increasingly seeing consented sites stall because the numbers simply don\u2019t stack up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe combination of build cost inflation, abnormal costs and fixed policy requirements is creating a viability gap that is too large to bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout flexibility, fewer sites will come forward, and those that do will take longer to deliver \u2014 which only adds to the supply challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alastair Wood, head of Scotland planning at Savills, said: \u201cThe ambition behind NPF4 is clear, but in practice the system is struggling to respond at the pace required to address Scotland\u2019s housing emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of up-to-date Local Development Plans, combined with increased policy complexity, is leading to delays and uncertainty \u2013 particularly for sites that could contribute to housing supply in the short term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA more flexible and proportionate approach to decision-making, particularly on viable and deliverable sites, will be essential if we are to accelerate housing delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Urban sites faced extra problems with high construction costs, skills shortages and policy requirements limiting developer appetite, especially for flatted schemes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Urban land values fell by more than 10% annually to Q1 2026.<\/p>\n
Savills recommended greater flexibility on affordable housing and developer contributions, reintroducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development on non-allocated land, faster planning decisions on allocated and brownfield sites, targeted infrastructure funding, remediation support and wider use of masterplan consent areas.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Savills noted that while Scotland was not destined for long-term under-delivery, the window for intervention was narrowing.<\/p>\n
The proposed national delivery body, More Homes Scotland, and targeted funding offered some optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Savills warned that without action on viability and planning barriers, Scotland\u2019s housing shortfall would continue to grow.<\/p>\n
The Scottish Government recently introduced the \u00a3100m First Homes Fund, giving up to \u00a310,000 support for first-time buyers (FTBs).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Savills said this was positive for demand but warned supply remained the problem.<\/p>\n
Carole Mackie, head of residential development sales at Savills Scotland, said: \u201cDespite the shortages in supply, what we are seeing in the new homes market is a healthy demand for when new launches do occur, when priced at an acceptable level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe introduction of the First Homes Fund is one that we welcome and we hope will provide a much-needed stimulus to a market that has had many challenges over the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Choudhry said: \u201cThere is still strong underlying demand for housing across Scotland, and the industry is ready to deliver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need a system that prioritises deliverability and reflects the realities of today\u2019s market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the right interventions \u2013 and a willingness to take a pragmatic approach \u2013 Scotland can turn planning permissions into completed homes. The opportunity is there, but action is needed now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Viability was identified as the biggest barrier, with rising build costs, infrastructure requirements and inflexible planning obligations stopping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1030220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,4884,143197,88898,26050,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-1030219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-great-britain","tag-housing-delivery","tag-property-development","tag-savills","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116759974950257285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1030220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}