SPF Reaction to Programme for Government Statement 2023-2024

Responding to the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, Scottish Property Federation Chair, Maria Francké said:

"Today’s Programme for Government reiterated the Scottish Government’s intention to bring forward a Housing Bill with provisions for rent control. This has been long expected but fails to get to the root cause of the issues. We are simply not building enough homes across all tenures. Until Scotland can attract the investment to deliver more new homes on a sustained basis, we will fail to keep pace with the demand for rented accommodation.’

"The Scottish Government has also missed an opportunity to use its powers to support town and city centre regeneration. The change in the retail and office demand requires urgent action to help our built environment to adapt and repurpose vacant buildings. However, there are no new support mechanisms in today’s announcement to attract investment and nothing to allay concerns over ever-higher vacant business rates charged on properties struggling to find a commercial tenant."