Housing infrastructure finance: call for evidence

The Scottish Housing Investment Taskforce brought together public and private sector experts to find ways to unlock housing investment across all housing tenures.

The taskforce published its report in June 2025. The report makes bold recommendations to address Scotland's housing emergency.

What the taskforce said about infrastructure finance

The taskforce noted concerns about infrastructure costs, including concerns from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that the scale or availability of finance is preventing homes from being built.

The taskforce recommended that market testing should be undertaken to assess demand for new loan options. This includes working out what risk and reward sharing models would work.

To support delivery, the Scottish Government should work with the Scottish National Investment Bank and use its market expertise.

What we're doing

The Scottish Government is liaising with the Scottish National Investment Bank about this recommendation.

We are inviting businesses and other relevant organisations to provide examples. This includes third sector organisations and registered social landlords (RSLs).

We want examples of sites that could be unlocked or accelerated with appropriate finance for infrastructure costs.

Call for evidence

This call for evidence will help us understand current market need. It will help us explore potential solutions, including loan options and risk and reward sharing models. The call for evidence closed on 15 November 2025.

How to respond

You can send us a brief description of any site where finance for infrastructure costs is preventing homes from being built.

This could be because of:

• scale of finance needed
• availability of finance
• timing of finance

What we'll do with your information

We will use this information to understand where there may be gaps in market funding and existing support.

We will publish the insights on the gov.scot website and share them directly with the Scottish National Investment Bank. Information published on the Scottish Government website will not identify individuals, businesses, or specific developments.

Housing investment finance survey questions

We are seeking your insight, drawing on your expertise and experience in the housing sector which are vital to understanding current challenges in accessing housing infrastructure finance.

This survey will help us understand the barriers you face in securing infrastructure finance for housing developments and identify potential gaps in existing support.

All responses are confidential and will be analysed collectively. Themes will be analysed and published on gov.scot. Individual organisations and specific developments will not be identified in any reports or publications. Participation is voluntary.

We value your time and contribution to this important work. 

Thank you for taking the time to participate. Your insights are invaluable in helping us understand the housing investment landscape, gauge market need, identify gaps and consider potential solutions.

Question 1: Your organisation and development pipeline

Please provide brief details about your organisation:

• type of organisation (e.g., registered social landlord, local authority, private developer, third sector)
• how many homes has your organisation completed per year over the past three years?
• brief description of your typical development activities

Question 2: current development projects - development details

Please describe a specific housing development project where you own the site and have planning permission in place (or expect planning permission to be granted imminently and the land transaction to conclude on that basis). Include details about:

The development:

• location and scale (total number of flats and houses)
• tenure of properties, including any affordable housing or mid-market rent
• total market value of the homes
• any non-residential elements
• how the homes will support net zero transition
• contribution to place-making (e.g., town-centre regeneration, sustainable communities, 20-minute neighbourhoods)
• whether homes are included in the local authority's strategic housing investment plan (SHIP)

Infrastructure requirements:

• details of infrastructure costs necessary for development progression (this may include costs outside, or partially outside the curtilage of the site, including land remediation costs where relevant to construction of infrastructure).
• whether permissions for infrastructure work are in place
• do not include any other costs, including s.75 contribution for education

Question 3: finance applications/challenges

Please detail your experience seeking finance for housing developments:

• Which organisations have you approached for finance? (Include commercial banks, Scottish National Investment Bank, Housing Growth Partnership and government schemes such as the Growth Guarantee Scheme delivered by the British Business Bank)
• If you have not applied to the Scottish National Investment Bank and all of the other government schemes listed, please explain why
• Where funding was not offered or conditions were unacceptable, please provide details about the reasons given
• Is difficulty obtaining finance a new problem for your organisation, or a longstanding challenge?