Other MSPs are undertaking visits to vitally important rural and brownfield housing developments being delivered by SMEs across the country.

This dedicated ‘Awareness Week’ follows recently published independent data review revealing an alarming reduction in Scotland’s SME home building sector. According to representative body Homes for Scotland (HFS), the proportion of new homes sold by those building between three and 49 homes per annum has fallen from around 40% in 2017 to 20% in 2023. It also shows a significant increase in the number of SME home builders being dissolved, with 2023 levels 45% higher than in 2019.

Speaking ahead of the Ministerial roundtable taking place on Wednesday (21 August), HFS chief executive Jane Wood said: “Our research is the first of its kind, quantifying and contextualising Scotland’s SME home building sector and filling a significant data gap. Its findings paint a sobering picture of the impact barriers to growth are having on this vital group.

“SMEs simply do not have the economies of scale available to larger developers to navigate what is an overly complex and under-resourced planning system. This, coupled with the high-risk upfront financial costs involved in residential development and an ever-increasing regulatory burden, is making many SME sites unviable.

“With SMEs essential for building out rural and brownfield sites and the added context of a national housing emergency and a staggering 28% of Scottish households (693,000) identified as being in some form of housing need, what further evidence does the Scottish Government require to take action and introduce the regulatory reform required to facilitate the delivery of much-needed, warm and sustainable new homes?

“We are grateful to the ministers for housing and public finance for joining us this Wednesday to hear first hand the challenges that only SME home builders themselves can provide. HFS and its members are ready to work with them to ensure Scotland has a positive regulatory environment which fosters housing growth rather than diminishing it.

Recommendations for national and local governments to act upon to support the SME home building sector include:

• The undertaking of an urgent cross-portfolio review to identify, consider and remove SME burdens and challenges
• Proportionate planning practices that actively support SMEs
• New innovative funding streams and partnerships to remediate and unlock sites
• The implementation of an SME home builder impact assessment relating to policy proposals and changes
• The creation of a focused delivery vehicle to unlock more small sites

Eve McCurrich, managing director of Whiteburn Projects, this year’s HFS SME Home Builder of the Year, said: “SMEs are tremendously important to the diversity of new home delivery across Scotland. As demonstrated by the research, the decline in the number of SMEs is stark evidence of the loss of local house builders across Scotland.

“A buoyant SME culture would not only see the creation of new businesses and new jobs, but importantly, it would provide new homes across the whole of Scotland. This would not only positively contribute to the national and local economies, but offer homes and jobs for people within their local communities.

“I urge policy makers to take note of these findings, listen to what is needed to remove barriers, and help support the SME sector to flourish in Scotland, reaping these benefits for all.”