Homes that don't cost the earth: a consultation on Scotland's Sustainable Housing Strategy

FOREWORD

The Sustainable Housing Strategy will set out our vision for warm, high quality, affordable, low carbon homes and a housing sector that helps to establish a successful low carbon economy across Scotland.

In this consultation we ask the big questions about how we can achieve a long term and lasting transformation in the way we refurbish, build and value our homes. Such transformative action is needed to achieve the step change in provision of energy efficient housing by 2030 we promised in the Infrastructure Investment Plan, and to meet our commitments on the demanding targets for fuel poverty and emissions reduction set by the Scottish Parliament.

We set out the action we are already taking to develop a National Retrofit Programme to help hard pressed families across Scotland benefit from lower energy bills and to maximise the leverage of investment needed to provide opportunities and jobs for Scottish businesses and communities.

This consultation paper has been developed with significant input from leading organisations from the housing, fuel poverty, environmental and consumer protection fields as part of my Sustainable Housing Strategy Group. These organisations share with us a recognition of the importance of the issues raised in this document, the need for debate and a commitment to consider seriously the responses we receive.

We want people from all over Scotland to consider our proposals and let us know their views to help shape a final Sustainable Housing Strategy for Scotland - whether they are from local councils, the building industry, private and social landlords; are home owners or tenants or anyone with a commitment to improve the quality and sustainability of our homes.

We want everyone in Scotland to live in high quality, sustainable homes that they can afford and that meet their needs. We want to hear your views, so that we can work together to achieve this.

Alex Neil
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment