Slow response to Edinburgh’s housing emergency shortfall - Iain Whyte
The top concern people raise with politicians at present is the cost of living. In Edinburgh a huge part of that is the costs of housing, yet very few have plans that would get more homes built.
Over the course of this election, you have probably heard lots of simple sounding plans for state intervention in housing, but what politicians don’t tell you is that these interventions often stop new homes being built.
A prime example is the Meadowbank site in my ward. Yes, it is slated to provide about 700 new homes and yes, the council is keen that many are “affordable”. But what is the progress?
The timeline says not very much. The old Meadowbank Stadium closed at the end of 2017 and planning permission was in place for the new sports centre and housing and by the middle of 2018.
Although the new sports centre finally reopened in 2022 after a Covid delay, there isn’t yet any housing. This is despite the council declaring a “Housing Emergency” in the intervening eight years.
The council’s processes, with multiple consultations and planning applications, to find the perfect nirvana does get in the way of getting the good done. B
ut the Scottish Government is even more to blame, despite SNP and Green councillors claiming otherwise.
Any developer building for sale must hand over 35 per cent of the site capacity for “affordable housing”. This might sound great in practice but often means a development is no longer affordable to build.
The price must increase on the remaining 65 per cent of homes to recoup the cost paid for the land. The end purchaser who will then find a mortgage harder to get.
A side problem is that it also drives developers to build student housing rather than residential - a big irritation for Edinburgh residents. But no wonder when the 35 per cent new homes tax doesn’t apply to student flats.
Then there were the Green-inspired rent caps. A council officer let slip in a recent meeting that this had stopped the “build to rent” market stone dead in Edinburgh. You don’t build homes for rent if there is a risk that rising interest on your loans and maintenance costs could increase way beyond any rent cap.
Housing at Meadowbank hasn’t started, in large part because a build to rent proposal no longer stacked up. Let’s hope whatever new Scottish Government we have after today takes heed.