CIH Scotland welcomes National Planning Framework 4 while calling for more Government leadership on delivery

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland has published its response to the Scottish Government consultation on the draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) welcoming the commitment to identifying sufficient land for new housing but recommending further steps are taken to strengthen the links between the strategic framework and the priorities of planning authorities.

In its response, CIH Scotland supports the approach set out in NPF4 with regards to climate change, future place, homes and neighbourhoods but notes the need for NPF4 to link to existing strategies and policies that help deliver on this vision.

CIH Scotland also recommends that the spatial strategy would benefit from a clear roadmap up to 2045 setting out expected milestones, budgetary considerations, and outcomes.

Calum Chomczuk, national director at CIH Scotland said:

“The pandemic has taught us all the importance of having a safe, affordable place to call home, but with market trends in Scotland pointing to significant housing pressures, we need to improve access to affordable housing in the short to medium-term.

“The suggested plans for how we identify Scotland’s All Tenure Housing Land Requirement as part of NPF4 are welcome. We need to be able to plan for house building over the long term, outwith political election cycles, and a ten year housing land supply will help us institutionalise the reforms we need to deliver a ten year, all tenure housing plan.

“But we also need to see land identification then matched with the appropriate infrastructure changes. And then we need to help planning authorities realise the connection between these national strategic plans and their own local priorities.

“None of this is easy and it will require significant infrastructure investment from the Scottish Government alongside a recognition that more money will be required to increase planning authority capacity and to build the homes Scotland needs.”