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It has now been three years since Scotland’s major cities officially declared housing emergencies, a step that was soon followed by the entire nation making a similar declaration. During this period, the country has seen homelessness reach unprecedented levels, concurrent with a steady increase in the costs associated with renting and purchasing homes. At first glance, the logical response to this issue seems clear-cut: increase the number of houses built. However, the process of delivering adequate housing is complex, involving layered responsibilities shared among the Scottish Government, local authorities, and private developers.
While Scottish ministers highlight that Scotland currently leads the UK in terms of housebuilding rates, recent data points to a slowing pace. This raises concerns about whether the types of homes constructed meet the actual demands and are located in places where they are most needed. To date, thirteen councils across Scotland have declared housing emergencies, citing factors such as heightened strain on homelessness support services, rising numbers of individuals in temporary accommodations, and chronic shortages of affordable housing against extensive waiting lists. Government figures reveal an alarming 10% increase in households residing in temporary housing provided by local authorities, exceeding 19,000 cases, which includes over 10,700 children living in conditions such as bedsits. In total, 35,000 households were assessed as homeless or at risk during the 2025-26 period.
Demand continues to outpace supply dramatically. As of March this year, council waiting lists for social housing tally over 140,000 applications, a number that excludes major cities like Glasgow. In Glasgow, social housing is predominantly managed through housing associations, which currently have more than 6,000 active applicants. Although the combined social housing stock—managed by both councils and housing associations—has increased since 2017 (following the abolition of the Right to Buy scheme), it has only returned to levels last seen in 2004. More striking is that there are still 89,000 fewer social homes available compared to 1999 when the Scottish Parliament was re-established, despite the population growing by 9% since that year.
Meanwhile, new home construction is not keeping pace with the growing need. The sector had just begun to recover from the economic downturn triggered by the 2008 financial crisis when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted progress. In the 2025-26 financial year, 17,640 new homes were completed—the third consecutive year this figure declined. The outlook for reversing this trend soon appears bleak, given that the number of new project starts over the previous two years hit their lowest point since 2012-13. Housebuilders attribute these challenges to several factors, including rising costs of doing business and inflationary pressures impacting the price of construction materials, particularly following the war in Ukraine in 2022. Industry representatives also highlight problems such as scarcity of suitable land for building and delays in receiving planning permissions. Added to this, regulatory burdens and government-imposed requirements have contributed to higher costs; Homes For Scotland reports that these rules have increased the cost of new homes by tens of thousands of pounds. While UK Chancellor John Healey pledged no major alterations to building regulations for the duration of the parliamentary term, recent Scottish measures include levies to fix unsafe cladding, mandates for climate-friendly heating systems, and improved energy efficiency standards. Scottish Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville emphasized to BBC Scotland News that these policies are essential for cutting energy bills and enhancing housing accessibility for disabled individuals, even though ministers remain attentive to developers’ concerns.
Discrepancies in where new homes are being constructed are also evident. Construction activity is notably concentrated around the Edinburgh area, creating an uneven geographic distribution of housing development across Scotland. This concentration of building efforts raises questions about whether homes are being delivered where they are most needed to alleviate pressures in other regions. As the housing crisis continues, scrutiny on the distribution and adequacy of new construction remains a critical focus for policymakers and communities alike
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