The draft Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing (SPP3) will facilitate new land supply for housing development and ensure best use is made of existing housing land allocations. SPP3 will underpin the delivery of the Scottish Government's key housing policy objectives to deliver more homes of higher quality and higher environmental standards.

The draft policy encourages councils to work together to better assess and identify housing requirements across housing market areas. Using a variety of information sources, including need and demand, identified housing requirements will be embedded in long term development plans.

Planning Minister Stewart Stevenson said:
"Scotland needs more homes. We must improve the supply of homes to buy, to rent and for low cost home ownership across Scotland, especially in areas facing housing pressures.

"While demand for new housing, particularly affordable housing, has risen in recent years, there has been no corresponding increase in housebuilding. If Scotland is to benefit from more sustainable economic growth, we must build more homes to higher standards. A modern, efficient, planning system is key to unlocking that.

"Development plans must be central to ensuring the right kinds of houses are in the right places. The new policy requires councils to take a strategic look at housing need and supply. Where there are particular pressures on housing supply, the policy allows quicker release of appropriate land and more effective use of existing land allocated to housing - this will be central to providing more houses to meet affordable housing need and market demand."

Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell, said:
"These proposals to reform the planning system are an important step towards our goal to boost the number of new homes built in Scotland by 10,000 per year to 35,000 by the middle of the next decade - as outlined in our discussion document on the future of housing, Firm Foundations.

"It's clear that the current arrangements are simply not delivering enough new homes, adding to problems with affordability which have priced too many people out of the housing market. We have already established the Housing Supply Task Force to identify obstacles that are hampering new developments and this draft planning policy further demonstrates our determination to put in place concrete measures to address the real problems."

The consultation will run until March 31st, 2008 with publication of the final revised SPP 3 intended for summer 2008.

The draft SPP 3 also:

• Proposes that local authorities consider improved planning policies for Houses in Multiple Occupation, particularly where concerns exist about high concentrations
  
  
• Encourages improved standards of energy efficiency, quality and sustainability of new homes
  
  
• Provides guidance on the delivery of housing through the existing planning system, and that which will be brought about by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006

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