“Politics needs to change Housing otherwise Housing is going to change Politics” was the clear statement from Professor Duncan MacLennan during an excellent The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) event, which was stacked with pearls of wisdom.
Thanks to Ann Packard for inviting Eugene Mullan to Chair the event, ‘Facing the Future – Scotland’s Housing Challenges’. There was an excellent panel of speakers – Professor Ken Gibb, Eli Harji, Debbie Mackay, and Professor Duncan MacLennan – with a wealth of relevant knowledge and experience.
The presentations brought a variety of perspectives, a few of the key themes were:
- The need for real collaboration on rural housing development to overcome the current dysfunctional system
- The growing dilemma between needing to deliver more and better social homes, while also keeping rents affordable.
- The positive impact of a well-functioning housing sector on the economy
- The need for Scottish Government Housing to 2040 policy to be more joined up
- NPF4 was great for climate agenda and biodiversity but doesn’t deliver for Housing
- Pressing need for Westminster government and the devolved parliaments in the UK to have a meaningful conversation on housing
- Housing Emergency implies that this is recent, however the current challenges are systemic and have been obvious for quite some time
- We need a significant Disruption in Scottish housing policy that abandons 1960’s understanding of what ‘housing’ means and ‘does’
There can be no more important aspect of society than good housing for everyone. Current politics and policy (lack of investment and ever-increasing regulatory burdens) are not delivering the desired outcome and real collaboration, at so many levels, is essential if this is to not become a serious challenge for Scotland.
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