Local Housing Strategy: guidance 2026

Alignment between planning and housing

It is vital that there is strong collaboration between local authority housing, planning, and economic development officials to ensure close joint working in support of housing, economy, and place ambitions. The diagram below sets out key links between housing and planning.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4)

National Planning Framework (NPF4) aligns with Housing to 2040 supporting the delivery of good quality homes. Particularly those that improve affordability and choice, including accessible, adaptable and wheelchair accessible homes, homes for older people, including supported accommodation, care homes and sheltered housing.

NPF4 takes a long-term approach looking to 2045 and guides spatial development, sets out spatial principles, regional priorities, national developments and national planning policy. NPF4 forms part of the statutory development plan, together with the relevant LDP. It influences planning decisions across Scotland and should be read as a whole.

NPF4 guides the spatial development in line with six overarching spatial principles that will play the key role in delivering our national outcomes and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These spatial principles are: just transition, conserving and recycling assets, local living, compact urban growth, rebalanced development, and rural revitalisation.

The spatial principles in NPF4 are an integrated strategy to ensure future places work for everyone, bringing together cross-cutting priorities, including in housing delivery, and achieving sustainable development rather than compromises between environmental, social and economic objectives.

Local Development Plan (LDP)

Planning authorities are required to prepare a LDP for their area at least every ten years, setting out how places will change in the future, including where development should and should not happen. LDPs help deliver the strategic approach and policy objectives set out in NPF4, including:

• requirements for the identification of land for housing that align with the spatial principles in NPF4
• support the delivery of sustainable, liveable and productive places
• the national developments relevant to their areas.

Minimum All-Tenure Housing Land Requirements

NPF4 includes the Minimum All-Tenure Housing Land Requirements for each planning authority in Scotland. The Minimum All-Tenure Housing Land Requirement is the minimum amount of land, by reference to the number of homes, that LDPs are expected to provide across the planning authority area for a ten-year period. LDPs are required to identify a Local Housing Land Requirement for the area which is expected to exceed the Minimum All-Tenure Housing Land Requirement set out in NPF4.

Supportive Policies

NPF4 includes supportive policy on Gypsy/Traveller sites and includes a policy framework for development to meet the housing needs of the community, prepared in close collaboration with members of the community. Policy provides for LDPs to allocate land to ensure provision of accommodation for Gypsy/Travellers and Travelling Showpeople where need is identified.

NPF4 includes policy to support town centre living and LDPs should provide a portion of their Local Housing Land Requirements in city and town centres and be proactive in identifying opportunities to support residential development.

LDPs should set out tailored approaches to rural housing, and where relevant include proposals for future population growth. This should include provision for small scale housing such as that on crofts, including woodland crofts, and the appropriate resettlement of previously inhabited areas.

Local authorities are expected to prepare a LHS around every five years, informed by a current HNDA. Local authorities should be aware that the preparation of a LDPs has moved to a ten year review cycle. This provides an opportunity to ensure that both are aligned and are informed by a robust and credible HNDA.

Local authorities will want to ensure close working between housing and planning officials to ensure the development of the HNDA, LHS and LDP are timed effectively to ensure alignment. Where a LHS, informed by a HNDA, is prepared over the lifetime of a LDP, this provides an opportunity to test the appropriateness of local housing land requirements within a LDP. This will ensure that the land supply is responsive to market conditions and the delivery ambitions of the local authority.

Summary of areas expected to be included in LHS

a. demonstrate that there has been engagement between housing and planning officials in preparing a HNDA and LHS which considers the timing and alignment to the development of a LDP.

Placemaking

Delivering more homes at the heart of great places is a vision of Housing to 2040’s route map. This highlights the Scottish Government’s aim is for everyone to have a safe, high-quality home that is affordable and meets their needs in the place they want to be.

Good placemaking can positively support health, wellbeing and quality of life. The development of good places is a collaborative approach involving the design and development of places over time, with people and communities central to the process. NPF4 encourages, promotes and facilitates the delivery of more high quality, affordable and sustainable homes, in the right locations, providing choice across tenures that meet the diverse housing needs of people and communities across Scotland. It also supports the concept of local living and 20-minute neighbourhoods, where relevant.

Scottish Government’s Architecture Policy Statement, Creating Places, and the National Planning Framework 4 encourage, promote and facilitate well-designed development. This aims to make successful places by taking design-led and place-based approaches and thus, support the delivery of good quality, liveable places across Scotland. Planning and designing affordable housing developments that are consistent with the six qualities of successful places is an integral part of placemaking.

The Place Principle

The Place Principle is the overarching context for place-based working in Scotland, adopted by Scottish Government and COSLA. It aims to help overcome organisational and sectoral boundaries, encourage better collaboration and community involvement, and promote a participative approach to services, land and buildings, across all sectors within a place.

It supports the National Performance Framework's collective purpose for Scotland. Local authorities should be aware that the Our Place website includes resources such as case studies and tools that support the Place Principle and place-based working.

Community Involvement and The Place Standard Tool

Involving the local community in a meaningful way and providing opportunities for local people, including children and young people to share local knowledge and contribute their ideas is important. This aims to foster social connections, enhance a sense of belonging within communities and promote long-term stewardship in the place.

Early and meaningful community engagement helps to shape a shared vision for a place, and harness collaborative efforts to create vibrant, inclusive, and people-centred places. This can help ensure places are successful and sustainable, delivering better and more impactful long-term outcomes for communities across Scotland.

The Place Standard Tool provides a framework for place-based conversations to support communities, public, private and third sectors to work together to deliver high quality, sustainable places. It can help structure a conversation about a place including the physical and social aspects of places, and the important relationship between them.

Local authorities are encouraged to apply the principles of the Place Standard or to apply the Place Standard tool as appropriate in the planning and delivery of housing through Affordable Housing Supply Programme, as well as more broadly around making good places.

In preparing a LHS, local authorities should take cognisance as appropriate of the guidance below:

• Creating Places and Designing Streets Policy Statements
• National Planning Policies within NPF4
• Planning Guidance on Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods
• Planning circular on Local Place Plans
• Individual planning authority’s local design guidance, where it exists
• Water-resilient places - surface water management and blue-green infrastructure: policy framework (which sets out the important role of blue and green infrastructure, including how rainwater will be managed without connecting to the public sewer network)
• NatureScot’s report on maximising the benefits of green infrastructure in social housing

Summary of areas expected to be included in LHS

a. a summary setting out what the local authority’s approach to facilitating well designed new and existing neighbourhoods consistent with the six qualities of successful places as set out in NPF4. This should demonstrate the local authority’s commitment to adopting design-led approaches and effective collaborative working in placemaking and where appropriate. It should include any specific example of this, and that local community engagement opportunities and processes are in place to help ensure the best outcomes when creating or improving places.

b. a summary setting out how the local authority has taken a place-based and collaborative approach in preparing a LHS embedding the Place Principle in the process. This should demonstrate how the principles or use of the Place Standard Tool has supported placemaking, engagement and outcomes.

Housing delivery over the period of a LHS

There is expected to be strong connection between the LHS and the LDP and each should inform and be informed by the other to support a coherent approach to housing delivery across the area.

NPF4 sets out that development proposals for new homes that improve affordability and choice by being adaptable to changing and diverse needs, and which address identified gaps in provision, will be supported.

To support the production of LDPs, planning authorities are required to produce Evidence Reports to support the quality and effectiveness of their LDP. The Evidence Report is expected to include an indicative Local Housing Land Requirement. In developing an Evidence Report, planning authorities are expected to give regard to the LHS, specifically information relating to different tenures of affordable and market housing for an area.

To support both the LHS and to inform the Evidence Report and LDP, local authorities should clearly set out the scale, and type of housing required across all tenures over the period of the LHS and where appropriate the broader LDP timescales.

The LHS should include a clear summary setting out the affordable housing requirements over the period of the LHS, including the amount and type of affordable homes required. This should include specific reference to any sub areas within the local authority area that have particular affordable housing requirements, as well as areas where additional affordable homes may be considered less of a priority.

The LHS should also clearly set out the type and range of affordable housing required over the LHS period, this may include:

• social rent homes, subsidised low-cost housing for sale; including shared ownership, shared equity, serviced plots for self-build, unsubsidised low-cost housing for sale including entry level housing for sale and shared equity; and mid-market or intermediate rented housing
• homes for older people, including supported accommodation, care homes and sheltered housing
• accessible, adaptable and wheelchair accessible homes including the target to support the delivery of wheelchair accessible homes across all tenures
• provision of accommodation for Gypsy/Travellers and Travelling Showpeople
• specialist provision housing

Local authorities are encouraged to consider the findings of the Housing needs of minority ethnic groups: evidence review which highlights the need for larger family homes for minority ethnic groups. Local authorities are encouraged to engage with ethnic minority communities to understand their housing needs including those that are additional to those covered by mainstream housing.

The requirement for non-permanent accommodation should be considered if the intention is to stay in an area for only a short period of time. Local authorities are encouraged to also consider other specific cultural needs, for example older members of the Jewish or Muslim communities.

Local authorities may wish to include a weblink within a LHS to any separate background paper that has been prepared although the LHS should include a summary of findings. Local authorities should be aware that the information prepared will inform other sections of the LHS guidance including specialist provision housing, Gypsy/Traveller accommodation, and home ownership amongst others.

Local authorities should give full consideration to factors that may have a material impact on the pace and scale of housing delivery. This should include a clear summary of any identified delivery challenges, the impact this is likely to have and where appropriate any actions currently underway or planned to respond to these challenges. This should include consideration to the following areas:

• economic factors which may impact on demand and supply
• capacity within the construction sector
• supply and cost of materials
• development finance
• the potential inter-dependency between delivery of market and affordable housing at the local level
• availability of resources
• likely pace and scale of delivery based on completion rates
• recent development levels
• planned demolitions; and
• planned new and replacement housing or housing being brought back into effective use

Summary of areas expected to be included in LHS

a. a summary setting out the local authority’s priorities for housing delivery across all tenures. This should include scale and type together with an explanation around how the requirement has been determined and a weblink or copy of any background paper explaining how it has been identified.

b. a summary setting out the affordable housing requirements over the period of the LHS, including amount and type, with reference to variations in requirements for specific areas.

c. evidence that engagement has reached ethnic minority communities to understand their housing needs, including those that are additional to those covered by mainstream housing.