Planners must 'face reality' of housing costs - Daily Business

Planners must 'face reality' of housing costs - Daily Business reports that Scotland’s housing crisis will not ease until planners and policymakers account for whether developments are commercially viable. Homes for Scotland (HFS) released a report, Development Viability - Housing, arguing that rising costs, infrastructure requirements, planning obligations, policy expectations, and market conditions determine whether allocated sites can be built. The group links the analysis to concerns about stalled housing sites, a shrinking supply of effective housing land, and pressure on housing starts and completions. HFS says viability is not fixed and can change as costs rise or new information emerges, citing comments from a property summit in Edinburgh where Ali Afshar, managing director of AMA Homes, said building costs eroded margins and made projects unviable. HFS also pointed to Savills data showing completions fell 13% in 2025 to 17,336 homes. The report recommends considering viability earlier in Local Development Plan preparation and improving transparency on infrastructure costs, contributions, and policy requirements.