Scotland has no shortage of ambition when it comes to housing. Over the past year in particular, the state of our housing system and falling levels of housebuilding have rightly come under intense scrutiny.

Across the country we are seeing clear signs that the system is under real strain. More than 33,000 households currently have open homelessness applications, and over 10,000 children are living in temporary accommodation across Scotland.

These aren’t just statistics. They represent thousands of families who are waiting longer for stable homes and communities feeling the pressure of a shortage that has been building for years.

At the same time, the number of homes being built has been moving in the wrong direction. Scotland delivered just over 20,000 new homes in 2023-24 - a drop of more than 16% compared with the previous year, according to official housing statistics.

Put simply, we are building fewer homes in a time of desperate need.

There has been plenty of positive rhetoric about tackling the housing crisis and changes to the planning system, including the introduction of National Planning Framework 4. But the reality on the ground is that some of these changes have made delivery more difficult rather than helping to speed it up.

One of the most persistent challenges is viability. Planning obligations through Section 75 agreements are designed to ensure new developments contribute meaningfully to local infrastructure and services - a role that is both important and well understood. Yet in practice, the associated costs, coupled with significant inconsistencies in how they are applied across local authorities, can make residential development increasingly difficult to deliver.

Even where a site is technically viable, penal S75 costs mean housing land values can be significantly lower than alternative uses, such as industrial or commercial development. The impact is clear: land that could deliver hundreds of much-needed new homes is instead diverted to other uses simply because housing cannot compete commercially.

That clearly isn’t the outcome anyone intends, particularly when so many councils have declared housing emergencies.

Another challenge is the shrinking pipeline of deliverable land. Many sites identified for housing have been zoned for years but remain undeveloped because they carry significant constraints, including difficult ground conditions, infrastructure requirements or high upfront costs.

Brownfield land is a vital part of the solution. At Cruden, more than 85 per cent of the sites we deliver are on previously developed land. But brownfield alone cannot solve Scotland’s housing shortage. These sites are often complex and expensive to unlock, and relying solely on them will not deliver the number of homes Scotland needs.

The shortage of land is also affecting the industry. With fewer sites coming forward, it is increasingly difficult for SME developers to compete for land. That matters because a healthy housing sector relies on a mix of businesses delivering homes across different locations and communities.

Despite the recognition of a housing emergency, many projects still move very slowly through the system. Homes absolutely can be delivered faster, but that requires stronger alignment between government, local authorities, planners and the industry itself.

We are approaching a pivotal moment, with all 32 Scottish local authorities preparing new Local Development Plans that will shape housing delivery for the next decade. Councils need to be bold in allocating enough land across different locations and site typologies. Without that pipeline, housing delivery will remain constrained.

There could be an opportunity to speed up the journey from LDP allocation to delivery of homes. If land is allocated in a new plan, there should be a clearer presumption in favour of development and a faster route to consent.

The Scottish Government’s plan to create a new national housing agency, More Homes Scotland, aims to bring greater simplicity and scale to housing delivery. That ambition is welcome, but the proposed timeline means it will take several years before the agency is fully operational.

As an industry we are ready to play our part. Solutions exist that could help unlock housing across Scotland, but delivering them will require quicker decisions, less unnecessary red tape and genuine collaboration.

Scotland’s housing ambitions are clear. Now we need the delivery engine to match them.

• Andrew Duncan is land director at Cruden