The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) has published a new report, setting out the evidence-led housing priorities for the next Scottish Government as the country approaches the 2026 election amid a formally declared national housing emergency.

The report provides a comprehensive review of Scotland’s housing system since 2021. It draws on new research, national data, and interviews with housing leaders and politicians. The findings highlight a system under acute pressure, with affordability worsening, homelessness rising, and affordable housing supply falling far short of need.

The authors conclude that Scotland requires both urgent short-term interventions to address crisis conditions, particularly around homelessness, and long-term structural reform to place the housing system on a sustainable trajectory.

The report identifies four areas requiring immediate and sustained political focus:

Resetting affordable and social housing supply
Scotland’s affordable supply programme has stalled due to budget cuts, inflationary pressures and structural weaknesses. A 50% increase in estimated housing need over the next Parliament underscores the requirement for significant programme reform and long-term investment.

Governance and structural reform
The Housing to 2040 strategy lacks the delivery mechanisms and accountability needed to implement its ambitions. The report calls for strengthened national leadership, enhanced local authority capacity, and bold property tax reform to replace outdated systems such as Council Tax and LBTT.

Planning, land and infrastructure reform
Under-resourced planning departments, slow NPF4 implementation, and a dysfunctional land market are holding back delivery. The report recommends modernising planning capacity, clearer NPF4 guidance, new land assembly powers, and consideration of a national or regional Housing Land Agency.

Prevention, homelessness and housing support
Scotland’s homelessness system requires systematic intervention. The report calls for increased prevention, better-quality temporary accommodation, expanded settled housing pathways, and a comprehensive review of housing support services.

The authors stress that Scotland’s housing challenges cannot be addressed through short-term fixes alone. Housing is a slow-moving system where consistent policy, cross-party commitment, and preventive investment are essential. The report also highlights the need for improved data, analytical capacity and systematic evaluation to ensure that policies deliver real-world impact.

Professor Kenneth Gibb, report co-author, CaCHE Director (Professor of Housing Economics, University of Glasgow) said: “The current Parliamentary term, now coming to an end, has seen Covid-19, the cost of living crisis, a rent freeze, affordable supply budget cuts and then funding restoration, the Housing Bill, the housing emergency, a 50% increase in affordable need and now possible council tax revaluation. Against this rather bewildering and rapidly changing backdrop, we are calling for a stable path to much-needed long term reforms, focusing on a small number of priorities that can, we hope, impact positively on housing outcomes.”

Dr Gareth James, report co-author, CaCHE Research & Knowledge Exchange Fellow (University of Glasgow) commented: “We’ve long acknowledged that the ambitions behind Housing to 2040 and NPF4 are sound, but the persistent implementation gap shows that vision alone isn’t enough. We can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results. Scotland needs to think and act differently - whether that’s replacing Council Tax and LBTT with a fairer property tax system or creating a national Housing Land Agency. These reforms aren’t easy, but they are essential if we want to see real progress.”

First published: 10 December 2025

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