NEW statistics highlight a service that is “under-resourced” and “ill-equipped" to deal with Scotland’s escalating housing emergency, the sector’s body has said.
Figures published by the Scottish Government on Monday for the financial year 2023/2024 show that despite a 29% decrease in the volume of major housing applications decided, the average processing timeframe has increased from 39 to 60 weeks compared to the previous year.
The benchmark for the statutory timeframe for these decisions is 16 weeks.
The timeframes for deciding small, local housing applications also decreased by 27% in 2023/2024 with the average processing timeframe increasing from 17 to 19 weeks against a statutory timeframe of eight weeks.
According to the sector’s body Homes for Scotland (HFS), the fact that none of the local authorities with declared housing emergencies had average processing times within the statutory timeframes for either local or major housing applications compounds Scotland’s escalating housing emergency.
HFS chief executive, Jane Wood, said the statistics are a crucial indicator of Scotland’s ability to tackle the national housing crisis across the short, medium, and long term.
She said: “With last month’s housing statistics highlighting consecutive declines in all-tenure starts and completions, today’s planning processing figures only confirm what the sector already knows: our planning system is poorly resourced and ill-equipped to deal with the policy implications of National Planning Framework 4 which is seeing land supply for new homes fall off a cliff.
“The Scottish Government must take urgent action to get Scotland’s planning system sorted with long-term sustainable funding and resourcing if we are to ensure that current and future generations have access to warm sustainable homes that meet their needs and that they can afford.”
The Scottish Government’s Budget is due at the start of December and will outline the tax and spending plans for Scotland for the 2025–2026 fiscal year.
Wood said Monday’s statistics will provide a timely reminder to the Scottish Government of the consequences of cutting the planning budget by 43% and not ring-fencing fees to support reinvestment into the planning service.
HFS has also called for clarity from minister for public finance, Ivan McKee, along with certainty on how the planning system will be resourced and financed to support the delivery of new high-quality homes at pace.
McKee is set to give a statement to Parliament on Tuesday.
McKee said: "Our planning system is a critical part of growing Scotland’s economy. We need a planning system with sufficient capacity and skills in place to meet the needs of Scotland’s economy, not least to enable the construction of more homes
“These statistics paint a stark picture of the scale of the challenge we have currently in our planning system, the need for efficient, effective, consistent and confident processing of planning applications has never been greater.
“It is important to acknowledge the key role everyone working in planning last year has played in helping Scotland’s economy to grow and to provide more homes and better places for people to live in. I therefore welcome that more than 29,240 applications were approved last year, but I am concerned that it is taking longer to process applications.
He added: “Whilst there can be many reasons for delays to decisions, there is clearly room for improvement. Performance is not just about speed of decision - certainty of process and good customer service are vital.
“To help planning authorities increase capacity, skills and efficiencies – and to support delivery of Scotland’s national planning framework – the Scottish Government is taking a range of actions and I will provide an update on this in Parliament tomorrow. ”
