Housing to 2040: consultation on outline policy options

Consultation on outline policy options

2 December 2019

Dear stakeholder

Housing to 2040: consultation on outline policy options

The Scottish Government's ambition is that everyone in Scotland should live in high quality, energy efficient homes that are affordable and that meet their needs. In last year's Programme for Government, we committed to work with you on a vision for how our homes and communities should look and feel by 2040 and the options and choices to get there. This year we reaffirmed that commitment. We want to publish our final vision and route map for 2040 in summer 2020, aligned with our new Infrastructure Investment Plan, and the Capital Spending Review, which will take account of recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland on strategic priorities.

In July, we published a draft vision for our homes and communities in 2040, and supporting principles to guide policy development. This built on the wealth of material received in response to our stakeholder engagement in 2018 and I want to thank you for all your contributions to date. I am writing to you now to seek your views on the draft vision and principles and your suggestions for bold, imaginative and innovative proposals in order to deliver the housing to 2040 vision.

We would very much like this to be an open public debate so that we can work together towards building a consensus around the vision and route map. In support of this, we are running a programme of stakeholder events and I am planning to attend as many of these as possible so I can hear your views. These will provide a forum to explore your suggestions and some of the difficult choices that necessarily follow. As it may not be possible to engage with everyone with an interest, we are also inviting written submissions.

Now is the time to reimagine our housing system and we want to work together with the whole of Scotland to create a shared vision for 2040. Housing is embedded in so much that we want to achieve. It has a vital role to play in meeting many of our aspirations, including eradicating child poverty and homelessness, ending fuel poverty, tackling the global climate emergency and promoting inclusive growth. We face a number of challenges which mean that business as usual is not an option. We need to think open-mindedly about how to respond and I am clear that nothing is off the table.

You have asked us to work towards cross-party political consensus on the future direction of housing policy. If the vision and route map are to be long-lasting, then they need to be created by, and belong to, all of us. I have invited other political parties to work with us on this and I look forward to engaging with them once I have heard from you about how you would like us to deliver the vision. We all know that house building, and housing systems don't fit neatly into a parliamentary cycle. I want to provide you with the long-term certainty you need to plan ahead, whether as an individual or organisation, and to invest in housing and housing services, in order to deliver and enjoy our shared vision for 2040.

Attached to this letter you will find: details of how to engage (Annex A); some guideline questions (Annex B); and some points to consider (Annex C). A copy of this letter is available on the Scottish Government website.

This is an exciting opportunity for housing policy for Scotland and I want everyone to play their part in creating the homes and communities of 2040. This period of consultation will continue until 28 February 2020 and I look forward to engaging with you.

Aileen Campbell