Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2017
I have given way three times already.
Those are ambitious, locally led proposals. They are supported by central Government and will create new communities that work as self-sustaining places, not merely as dormitory suburbs.
A new Cabinet position, new Government agency, new housing deals and new towns—those are just some of the ideas that we are bringing to the table. We need to talk about housing, and we need to act. The housing shortage is not a looming crisis or a distant threat. We are already living in it and we need political leadership to tackle it.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises that the lack of housing supply is one of the biggest challenges that Scotland faces and believes that the planning system needs urgent and radical reform; considers that a new deal on housing is required; believes that a national housing and infrastructure agency should be established and that the First Minister should appoint a cabinet secretary for housing and infrastructure; urges ministers to examine the case for a new generation of new towns and garden villages; recognises that improving existing properties and bringing empty ones back into use should form a core component of housing policy, and highlights the importance of housing for improving health and wellbeing and for meeting climate targets through energy efficiency and sustainable development.