Rural and islands housing: action plan

Delivering the Right Homes in the Right Places

Housing has a key role to play in the quality of life and sustainability of rural communities as well as supporting the local economy. Ensuring the right homes in the right places is fundamental to enabling rural communities to thrive. Targeted, place-based approaches, which consider current and future housing requirements, tenure and affordability alongside amenities and infrastructure are key to ensuring support for communities over the long-term.

In remote, rural and island areas, small-scale actions can bring about significant impacts and a small number of additional homes can make a generational difference, supporting the long-term resilience of communities. The Scottish Government’s approach to the planning and delivery of new housing is focussed on providing the “right homes in the right places”. This underlying place principle applies as much to rural as urban areas and forms the basis for our approach to delivering housing solutions across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to the delivery of high-quality affordable homes across Scotland including for our remote, rural and island communities. We have set a long-term ambition to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be for social rent and 10% in remote, rural and island areas. We recognise that delivering more homes in rural and island areas can be more complex than in urban areas, homes take time to come forward, development costs are higher, and the identification of affordable and deliverable land opportunities in the right places can be more challenging.

The delivery of affordable housing through both our mainstream Affordable Housing Supply Programme and the Rural and Islands Housing Fund has strong links to community wealth building. Affordable housing providers, including local authorities, registered social landlords, rural housing enablers and communities delivering homes in rural and island areas, play a key role in local economies, with an economic impact beyond the homes they provide. Through both construction and maintenance, housing offers employment opportunities to local communities, including purchasing of goods and services, often benefitting local Small and Medium Enterprises, helping to support local employment and retain wealth in communities.

Our Community Wealth Building approach to economic development shows our commitment to strengthen the practical means by which we can achieve our wellbeing economy objectives outlined in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We are committed to use procurement to help deliver more and better jobs, business growth and shorter supply chains creating greater resilience and supporting net zero ambitions. We have put in place a set of tools, policy support and guidance to simplify procurement processes and increase access to information and opportunities.

Building on the Business in Parliament event held in February 2023, targeted Small and Medium Enterprise and third sector research, and ongoing engagement with businesses to test and improve approaches, we are developing a Small and Medium Enterprise, Third Sector and Supported Businesses Action Plan.

Planning for housing development takes place through an established process. Local authorities, as both the statutory housing and in most cases the planning authority, are responsible for assessing housing requirements and for ensuring appropriate land in the right places to enable the delivery of housing. The National Park authorities also have responsibilities as planning authorities.

Permitted Development Rights set out what can be built without submitting a planning application. New Permitted Development Rights came into force in April 2021 enabling the conversion of existing agricultural and forestry buildings to up to five dwellings per agricultural unit.

All planning authorities are required to prepare a Local Development Plan for their area, reviewed every ten years, setting out how places will change in the future, including where development should and should not happen. Local Development Plans show the locations of new homes and workplaces as well as how services and facilities such as schools and travel will be provided. Local Development Plans should set out tailored approaches to rural housing, and where relevant include proposals for future population growth – including provision for small scale housing projects and woodland crofts and the appropriate resettlement of previously inhabited areas.

In preparing Local Development Plans, planning authorities must take into account National Planning Framework 4 and Local Place Plans which are community-led plans setting out proposals for the development and use of land. Once Local Place Plans are completed and registered by the planning authority, they are to be taken into account in the preparation of the relevant Local Development Plan.

All local authorities are required to prepare a Local Housing Strategy, informed by an assessment of housing need and demand, setting out what their priorities and plans are for the delivery of housing and related services over a five-year period. Specifically for rural and island areas, local authorities should consider the distinct issues and challenges for housing and housing related services and set out their plans for addressing these. This includes setting out specific priorities for affordable housing across the area, including consideration of tenure, size, and any need for specialist provision. As the Local Housing Strategy is refreshed around every five years, this offers an opportunity for a useful sense-check on whether the Local Housing Land Requirements in Local Development Plans remains appropriate and deliverable.

Local authorities are also required to prepare an annual Strategic Housing Investment Plan which should closely reflect the priorities in the Local Housing Strategy. Each Strategic Housing Investment Plan includes details of priority affordable housing delivery projects for a five-year period including projects in remote, rural and island areas. Scottish Government reviews each Strategic Housing Investment Plan annually and provides feedback to local authorities.

The Scottish Government has five area-based teams which work closely with local authorities and other local stakeholders to support the delivery of affordable housing, and broader housing and place objectives. For example, Highland Council has a weekly Highland Housing Hub meeting with five actively developing registered social landlords, Scottish Government, and relevant local authority departments to monitor and co-ordinate activity. Similarly, Argyll & Bute Strategic Housing Forum is a multi-agency partnership which meets quarterly to co-ordinate and monitor affordable housing delivery locally and includes the local authority, registered social landlords, Scottish Government, Rural Housing Scotland, and Communities Housing Trust.

The diagram below demonstrates the range of stakeholders with a key housing interest and the role they have in the housing system.

Key Stakeholders - Housing in Remote, Rural and Island Areas

Private developers

• Submit new development proposals.
• Construction services and housing delivery.

Third Sector Housing Bodies

• Support for community led housing projects.
• Housing delivery Information.
• Advice and Support.
• Policy and Practice.

Registered Social Landlords

• Own and Manage affordable housing.
• Deliver new affordable housing developments.
• Advice and support to tenants.

Residents

• Residents of remote rural and Island communities.
• Housing delivery and Local Place Plans.

Employers

• Private businesses and public services.
• May own assets such as land and housing.

Stakeholder groups

• Role according to remit, may influence or guide Scottish Government or local government policy and strategy development.

Scottish Government

• National Policy - Housing to 2040 / National Planning Framework 4
• Guidance:
  • Local Development Plans;
  • Local Housing Strategies;
  • Strategic Housing Investment Plans; and
  • Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
• Funding to local authorities, registered social landlords and others to deliver affordable housing, improving housing quality and ending homelessness.
• Delivers home ownership support , including Low Cost Initiative for First Time buyers schemes and Self Build Loan Fund.

Local Government

• Statutory Housing & Planning Authority.
• Statutory duty under Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to develop a Local Housing Strategy, in consultation and supported by an assessment of housing need and demand.
• The Local Housing Strategy sets out the vision for the delivery of housing and housing related services across the local authority area.
• Range of statutory duties such as homelessness, fuel poverty, equalities, climate change, energy efficiency and housing quality.
• Develop an annual Strategic Housing Investment Plan reflecting Local Housing Strategy priorities.
• Develop a Local Development Plan.
• Determine planning applications.

Enterprise Agencies

• South of Scotland Enterprise.
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
• Role in supporting regional economy and community development.