Action on housing emergency condemned as building standards legislation delayed

More needs to be done to tackle Scotland’s housing emergency, ministers were told, after a delay on adequate building standards legislation was announced.

Housing minister Paul McLennan delivered a ministerial statement in Holyrood on Thursday in which he outlined an ambition to reduce the number of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

But he also said the government “cannot achieve everything at once”, and confirmed work to introduce a tenure-neutral housing standard would be “rescheduled”.

Legislation was initially supposed to be introduced next year, but McLennan said a public consultation on the matter would be launched in 2025 instead.

The legislation would introduce a housing standard to cover all homes with no margins of tolerance, no exemptions and no “acceptable levels” of substandard homes.

But in Holyrood, he said: “I recognise that we cannot achieve everything at once and we must focus on activity which will reduce harm, particularly that experienced by households with children.

“We decided to reschedule work on a new tenure-neutral housing standard. Rather than seek to introduce legislation in 2025 we intend to publish a public consultation on this matter by 2025.”

McLennan was then told his statement was not an appropriate response to the housing emergency declared last month.

Scottish Conservative housing spokesman Miles Briggs said: “A month ago the Scottish Government did declare a housing emergency.

“What we’ve heard today does not sound or feel like an emergency response to that; we need to see more.”

Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin said: “We have got a Housing Bill that doesn’t build a single house, all the while 45 children are becoming homeless every single day, and that will keep happening because the Government aren’t doing anything differently other than cutting the housing budget.

“I’m not entirely sure why we had this statement today.”

McLennan addressed the number of children in temporary accommodation, saying: “We know the number of children in temporary accommodation is too high and it is a priority for myself and the Scottish Government.”

The statement came after a coalition of housing organisations, including Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, warned they have no confidence in the Scottish Government’s plans to tackle the housing emergency.

In an open letter to First Minister John Swinney, they warned current strategies had been “fatally undermined” by spending cuts in recent budgets.

The affordable housing budget was cut by £200m in the latest Scottish Budget, with £80m later restored, accounting for a £163m cut - or 22% in real-terms - from 2023-24.

The coalition has demanded ministers deliver the political leadership required to reduce the number of children in temporary accommodation by 2026 after figures showed 9,860 were in such conditions on September 30, 2023.

The letter said: “We need political leadership with the power and money to deliver, we do not have any confidence that the current structures can deliver unless you are willing to invest your political capital in changing course.”

It went on to say declaring a housing emergency was a “first step”, and there “remains a much further distance to travel until we can say Scotland’s housing emergency is in retreat or even close to ending”.

Separately, several Scottish tourism organisations have stated that the Scottish Government’s amendments to short-term let licensing regulations do not go far enough in addressing business concerns.

This intervention comes ahead of McLennan’s appearance at the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government Committee on 25 June, where he is set to provide evidence on the licensing 2024 Amendment Order, as well as commitments from the Scottish Government to reduce red tape.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has led calls to get the regulations back on track, providing policy solutions and engaging directly with ministers, cabinet secretaries and through the Implementation Advisory Group (IAG).

The IAG submitted comments on 17 recommendations it thought should be considered by the Scottish Government in respect of issues raised to date in the operation of the legislation – but only three were addressed in the order.

The ASSC had called for the order to be pulled to allow for meaningful revisions to take place, including the decoupling of licensing and planning regimes - which it claims remains the biggest obstacle to the successful implementation of licensing - and for guidance to be re-written.

Recent survey work by the ASSC showed 77% of businesses reported a negative impact on business operations as a consequence of the Scottish Government’s short-term let regulations. The self-catering sector finds itself in a precarious position not only due to these regulations but changes to the Furnished Holiday Letting tax regime and the proposed visitor levy.

Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the ASSC, said: “Nobody would expect the Scottish Government to adopt every industry recommendation, but what is on the table is a rather paltry offering.

“Sadly, commitments to cut red tape have bypassed a sector facing irreversible damage, we can’t keep kicking the can down the road and hoping for the best when small and micro businesses urgently need help now.

“All licensing is doing is pushing up the costs of holidaying in Scotland, squeezing the supply of accommodation for our world-leading festivals, while generating a flourishing black market, damaging local businesses for no material benefit, and further legal challenges cannot be ruled out.”

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