In an interview with The Herald, the entrepreneur said there should be “no doubt” that housing should be at the top of the list of infrastructure investments made by the UK and Scottish governments.

“There are so many wins in building quality affordable homes – there is a huge demand across the country. This would create thousands of well-paid jobs and hundreds of technical apprenticeships, all on an equal opportunities basis. Hundreds of small companies in the supply chain would prosper enormously,” he added.

Lord Haughey, who owns City Facilities Management, said a partnership with the University of Strathclyde could see the creation of Scotland’s own world-leading carbon-neutral home.

Moving on to investment, Lord Haughey believes the new Scottish National Investment Bank, working closely with the Scottish Futures Trust and the Construction Hub, “could be the catalyst” to regenerate 3,500 acres of derelict land, which he describes as “Scotland’s greatest untapped asset”.

“This is a prime asset that could not only produce a significant capital gain but could also deliver a very large annual return through property rates tax,” he added.

“Through this initiative we could solve many problems, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality green homes that are affordable, all for rent, at the same time creating tens of thousands of construction jobs.”

The full interview is available here.