Meeting of the Parliament 12 November 2024
I welcome the member’s recognition that we have been listening to and engaging closely with the sector. The Government stands ready to work with all parties in this place and people across the sector to deliver what we need for Scotland’s planning system, housing needs and wider economy.
I absolutely commit to working to identify stalled sites as a first priority. I have asked for information on stalled sites to be pulled together so that we can understand what is in the 164 homes that have already been given approval. I have also asked for sight of large planning applications that are going through the system across all 34 of our planning authorities, so that we can better focus the resources of the hub on providing a brokerage service to address the priority need to shift the dial on the number of homes that are being given planning permission each year and to speed up processing times, particularly on the larger developments, where processing times make a difference.
I will be honest. That data is held at the local authority level. We are reaching out to local authorities to secure it, so that we have visibility on where best to apply and focus resources to support them. We are also reaching out to Homes for Scotland and others in the sector to ask them to provide information on applications that are stuck in the system, so that we can help to move them forward. As I said, we are very keen to work with all parties to make a big difference.