Scotland calls its current housing situation an emergency, but as Professor Duncan Maclennan argued at a recent event at the Scottish Parliament, that term implies something sudden, unexpected and solvable with a quick remedy. In reality, Scotland’s housing crisis has is none of those things. The issues have been building for years, its impacts are deep and long‑lasting, and the solutions require coordinated action across the whole system.

The excitement amongst homebuilders and social housing providers could be heard across Scotland last week when it became clear that housing funding would be restored in Shona Robinson’s budget.

Last year, whilst still under Humza Yousaf’s premiership, the budget was slashed by around £200m, forcing social housing providers and developers to rethink their home building plans for the coming year.