A national housing agency should be set up and compulsory purchase powers strengthened to deliver more affordable homes in the Highlands, a leading land reform campaigner has urged.
Radical changes are essential to overcome a crisis in Highlands and Islands housing, according to Ailsa Raeburn, who is chair of Community Land Scotland, the national organisation that speaks on behalf of groups which have taken ownership of land and assets.
Delivering this year’s Attwood Lecture at UHI Inverness, Raeburn insisted landowners, communities, construction companies, and planning authorities should be incentivised to build properties, and the Scottish Government needs to address barriers to development.
She suggests a significant overhaul of taxation and compulsory purchase powers were required, alongside a new National Housing Agency.
Ms Raeburn said: “We have businesses, local and global, wanting to invest and grow in the Highlands and Islands.
“We have a beautiful place to live with a great quality of life.
“We have more and more of our own young people wanting to build their lives here.
“So what’s the problem? It’s housing. Communities across the Highlands and Islands are desperate to retain and attract young and working age people, but it’s becoming more and more difficult because of lack of affordable housing.”
CARROT AND STICK
Ms Raeburn, who also sits on the boards of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Crown Estate Scotland, said it was time to consider how changes to taxation and compulsory purchase rules could help the housing situation.
She added: “How much are changes to taxation and compulsory purchase part of the mix too? A carrot and stick approach.There is a review of compulsory purchase legislation ongoing, but everyone would acknowledge it is a cumbersome and burdensome process with very high risk of challenge.
“We can only hope that the review manages to address these issues and enable more sites to come forward for development.”
Reform of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and council tax multipliers on second homes, should also be considered to reduce the impact of second homes and short term lets, Raeburn suggested.
HOUSING AGENCY
With availability of homes now at crisis level, Raeburn called for a new National Housing Agency to be considered that could coordinate and drive a fair housing development policy for Scotland.
She quoted examples from around the UK and Europe where such projects have been long established.
While Raeburn conceded there are risks such a body could be distanced from communities, she felt it would be important to consider an agency – independent of government – to minimise political interference, but designed to deliver overarching Scottish government housing policy.
The National Housing Agency could acquire land on a temporary basis, supply infrastructure, secure planning and other consents, and make sites available for development, with sales at open market value.
MULTIPLE BARRIERS TO PROGRESS
Raeburn highlighted a number of factors that are blocking progress in housing and that need urgent reform.
These barriers include access to land, construction capacity, cost/ value ratio, loss of existing homes to short term lets and second homes, issues with planning policy and delivery, and deficiencies in Scottish Government policy making.
One of the major issues was the escalation of construction costs. Ms Raeburn presented figures which said that an average housing unit rose from £157,000 in 2019 to £227,000 in 2024 – and the building industry faces huge problems getting and retaining staff.
LAND REFORM ESSENTIAL
Raeburn called for radical change to land ownership and management highlighting how land control in Scotland has become more concentrated in recent years.
“She said 433 individuals and companies own 50 percent of private land, and landholdings are getting larger.
Some private landowners, Raeburn said, prioritise their commercial interests over community sustainability, often having almost monopoly control of land that could be used for housing.
“A perfect example is Applecross,” she added. “Despite the local estate owning 26,000 ha of land surrounding several local settlements, it was impossible to secure any land for housing.
In the end the community managed to buy less than one acre of land at the road junction in the village from the NHS to develop for houses.”
She said the Land Reform Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament includes some positive measures, but needed strengthening to address issues around “monopoly ownership and community sustainability”.
