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Housing needs to be classed as infrastructure

Richard Jennings calls for the Scottish government to make a bold policy change

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Picture: Getty
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Housing needs to be classed as infrastructure, argues Richard Jennings of @CastleRockEdin #ukhousing

“We don’t need to wait until 2021 before we start to innovate in the delivery of new homes,” argues Richard Jennings of @CastleRockEdin #ukhousing

Richard Jennings of @CastleRockEdin calls for the Scottish government to make a bold policy change #ukhousing

The Scottish government has a bold ambition to ensure that everyone in Scotland has a home that is warm, affordable and accessible.

It also wants to support our most disadvantaged communities and create great places that are sustainable and that promote well-being.

At Places for People (PfP) – Castle Rock Edinvar’s parent organisation – we wholeheartedly support this ambition and that is one of the reasons we would argue that a bold policy response to deliver this would be a change in the planning regime to bring housing-led projects under the ambit of ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’, or to establish an equivalent regime for major housing developments.

“We don’t need to wait until 2021 before we start to innovate in the delivery of new homes”

Given the long lead-in times for housing delivery, the Scottish government has recognised that it needs to plan now for ‘life after 2021’, at which point the current target of 50,000 new affordable homes will likely have been met.

It would only be realistic to assume that there will be competition from other sectors for the capital grant that is currently being deployed to deliver new homes.


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Our argument would be that we don’t need to wait until 2021 before we start to innovate in the delivery of new homes.

The recent launch of PfP Capital’s mid-market rent fund, which will deliver at least 1,000 new homes without grant, shows that the future is now. Our joint venture with Sunamp to deploy heat batteries and solar PV to tackle fuel poverty is delivering tangible benefits for tenants.

Every major city in Scotland is either developing or delivering city deals that will transform economies and communities and these present a great opportunity for integrating housing into the solutions.

Housing can unlock infrastructure investment as part of a mixed-use and mixed-tenure approach to placemaking. It can be the catalyst for regeneration and provide a home for integrating the different strategic ambitions of partner organisations.

Edinburgh has the ambition to be a data-driven innovation capital and the future regeneration of the Granton area provides a great opportunity to test a change in how we design, develop and manage places, using real-time data to inform the decisions being made.

To do this we need to listen the needs of our communities and as a housing provider we are uniquely placed to reach out across the whole community to identify what people really want and need. We have the capacity and capability to innovate and find solutions and a track record of delivery.

The ambition for Scotland is clear and by working together in new partnerships, thinking differently and embracing innovation we have the potential to deliver world-class change in local communities.

Richard Jennings, managing director, Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association

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