Minister unveils planning hub as housing emergency grows

The new Housing Planning Hub, the Scottish Government explained, "will tackle the reasons for delays, which include waits on decisions for major developments, lengthy negotiations of section 75 agreements, funding issues, or policy requirements to address issues such as flooding or biodiversity".

Mr McKee also trebled the number of bursaries for postgraduate planning students, in a bid to encourage more future planners and address staff shortages, and announced a comprehensive training program for local councillors involved in planning decisions.

He added: "I have already taken steps to increase planning fees to enable authorities to recoup more of the costs that are associated with planning. 

"On average, only approximately 65 per cent of the costs of council planning departments are covered by fees that are collected from planning applicants. We recognise that increasing fees, alongside improving services, will be critical to providing the resources that are required."

Ariane Burgess, Scottish Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands, welcomed the minister’s confirmation that environmental specialists, such as biodiversity and flooding experts, will also help the hub progress stalled planning applications.

But Ms Burgess expressed concern that "the focus continues to be mostly on large-scale developments by volume house builders, rather than the smaller-scale developments on brownfield sites or of existing buildings that have the potential to address depopulation in our towns and villages. 

"I am keen the government also looks at the possibility of the hub providing empty homes support, or works with the local authorities that need it to determine how to best fund empty homes officers," she said. 

"We know that three homes can be retrofitted for the price of one new-build so, to address the housing emergency urgently, we need to see Government resources and planning policy backing ambitious retrofit and renovation projects." 

She said this approach is already embedded in Argyll and Bute where Campbeltown, Dunoon and Oban have benefitted from the work of empty homes officers to bring voids above town centre retail spaces back into use as affordable homes.

An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson told us: “There is a national shortfall of planners that can make recruitment in Argyll and Bute challenging. We make every effort to encourage new staff to join us by promoting the benefits of working in such a fantastic area.

“Our planning department processes almost 2,000 planning applications each year, which is challenging when faced with high customer demand and reduced staff.

“As Argyll and Bute was the first local authority in Scotland to declare a housing emergency, any initiative to help deliver much-needed homes, and incentives to improve the supply of planning professionals in Scotland, is to be welcomed although planning is just one part of the process.”

The council says statutory planning fees are anticipated to rise on December 12, 2024, subject to legislation being approved in Holyrood.