Technical consultation on proposed amendments to housing planning policy

The proposals aim to provide greater clarity for all those involved in the planning system, addressing the presumption in favour of development that contributes to sustainable development and the five-year effective housing land supply.

The consultation reads: “The Scottish Government is committed to a plan-led planning system. Development plans form the basis of planning decision-making to enable the right developments in the right locations.

“We want the planning system to support the delivery of good quality homes in the right locations. This is of even greater importance now, as it has become even clearer that the quality of our homes can contribute a great deal to our health and wellbeing, and that housing delivery will play a key role in our future economic recovery.

“However, to achieve housing development in a sustainable way, we need to overcome current conflict in the planning system and actively address lengthy technical debates about the numbers of homes that we will need in the future. This will allow us to focus more on how we can strengthen delivery and enable good quality development on the ground.

“This consultation paper sets out proposed policy amendments to achieve these objectives and invites views on them.”

Views on the proposals are now welcome via the Scottish Government’s consultation hub and should be submitted by October 9.