Housing to 2040: a conversation

Housing has a vital role to play in meeting many of our ambitions for Scotland, including eradicating child poverty and homelessness, ending fuel poverty, tackling the effects of climate change and promoting inclusive growth. 

We want everyone in Scotland to have a home that is warm, affordable and accessible and that fits their needs. We also want to ensure we have a housing system that is dynamic and resilient enough to respond to future changes, and can help to address the number of challenges we are facing, including an ageing population and a global climate emergency. That is why we have now begun to consider our longer term aspirations for housing in Scotland and the opportunities for how we might achieve this. 

In our 2018-19 Programme for Government, we made a commitment to plan together with stakeholders for how our homes and communities should look and feel in 2040 and the options and choices to get there.  This new approach will encompass the whole housing system* – we want Housing to 2040 to be a lasting legacy that is not just about new homes, but that takes into account the people, place, environment and communities in which our homes, both new and old, are located. 

Since making this commitment, we have been engaging extensively with a variety of stakeholders, including local government, businesses, the third sector, home owners, tenants and others to help shape a draft vision and principles for 2040.

This document sets out the Housing to 2040 draft vision and principles that emerged following our initial round of stakeholder engagement.