Catherine Wood: Holyrood elections - the return of the same, or a chance to change?

After months of poll-watching, speculation and close monitoring of party manifestos, the results of the Scottish election have confirmed what we’ve suspected for a while – the Scottish National Party (SNP) has retained its place in government.

Despite the party’s victory, the SNP notably achieved its lowest share of the constituency vote, at 38%. This win was ultimately boosted by pro-union parties splitting their votes and the disillusionment with the Labour government down in Westminster.

The SNP will now turn its focus to leading the country, most importantly delivering on its manifesto of promises – I’m looking at those related to the housing sector.

The latest government figures paint a discouraging picture, with private sector starts and completions down by 3% and 9% respectively from 2024. The same can be seen in social housing, which saw starts and completions slump by 15% and 25% during the same period. This makes driving up housing delivery a key priority for government.

Creating discussion is one thing, but delivering homes is another. The SNP hopes that its new housing agency, More Homes Scotland, will be the key to achieving this. Focused on preparing and releasing land, addressing planning backlogs and unlocking stalled sites, the agency aims to increase housing supply across the market and speed up delivery.

Its commitment to unlocking stalled sites is the right approach, as it can optimise how sites are used and help meet housing targets. However, stalled sites are stalled for a reason and that is often because they are undeliverable – perhaps they are in the wrong location or lack sufficient supporting infrastructure or are simply unviable. The new agency must now review these sites and consider new opportunities to unlock land that is able to accommodate development.

Simply recycling stalled sites won’t deliver the homes Scotland needs – More Homes Scotland should work with the industry to bring forward new viable sites. The private sector can play a key role in supporting the agency, from partnerships that can lead to the development of large sites to priming land that can be taken forward and developed by housebuilders. Collaboration between government and developers could certainly be a make-or-break for the agency, as it looks to ramp up delivery.

So, what else can be done? As a developer, I urge the government to also refocus its attention onto strategic land, which plays a key role in preparing land for development well in advance of a spade going in the ground.

The SNP has set an ambitious 110,000 affordable homes target, which will be supported by £4.9 billion over a four-year period. This is a record investment in affordable homes and proof that the government recognises the huge gap between need and supply and how to address this. Working with strategic land developers is a crucial piece of this puzzle, assembling sites and ensuring that they’re brought forward in the right places, where there is need and where there is the ability to deliver a mix of housing tenures.

With five more years under its belt, and a cabinet secretary for housing who has promised to increase delivery, all eyes will be on the new SNP government to build much-needed homes.

There’s a real opportunity for the new government to boost Scotland’s housing supply and its next steps are crucial – from increasing the supply of consented land to cultivating partnerships between the new housing agency and developers. It begins with politicians seizing the opportunity that lies ahead – if the government gets this right, Scotland could lead the charge on housebuilding in the UK, marking a new chapter in its story.