By Mike Stevenson, Technical Specification Advisor at NorDan UK
Most of us involved in the Scottish housing and construction sectors agree that more affordable homes are needed in Scotland. Indeed, the Scottish government has set a target of building 110,000 new properties by 2032 under its Affordable Housing Supply Programme.
However, where opinions differ is just how we deliver those new homes: What policies do we need to implement? What construction techniques should we embrace? What are the best standards to follow? Is there enough capacity and skills in the supply chain? And are factors such as Net Zero, which come with their own targets, a help or a hinderance when it comes to building more new homes?
But I am firm believer in the power of people, the community that makes up the Scottish housing and construction sector and its ability to come together to formulate solutions to some of these big issues. And if we can’t quite find a silver bullet to fix all the problems, we can at least share opinions and insights and set out a path for how the industry can work together to tackle some of these challenges.
That was the premise for NorDan UK’s latest roundtable, The Road to Net Zero Housing in Scotland, which was held in our new Training and Innovation Centre in Livingston earlier in the year.
I was joined by some of the sector’s leading voices, representing a range of experiences and disciplines across housing and construction in Scotland. They included Nicola Jackson, who is Net Zero Projects Lead for contractor and facilities management company, the Robertson Group; David Milton, Head of Development for Hillcrest Homes, one of Scotland’s largest housing associations; David Russell, Director at Carbon Futures, an energy and sustainability consultancy based in Glasgow looking at ways of tackling the UK’s climate emergency; Graham Acheson, Director at Edinburgh based architects, Smith Scott Mullan Associates; James York, an architect and passivhaus designer with Collective Architecture, an architecture firm with several studios in Scotland; and my colleague Graham Meldrum, Sales Director at NorDan UK.
I would like to thank them all for generously giving their time and for contributing to an interesting and lively event. Over 90 minutes we discussed and debated topics that ran from identifying the barriers we all face in trying to build more homes, through to some common-sense ideas for how the industry can work together more closely and how the Scottish government can better support us.
Some of the most important and interesting themes raised during the roundtable have been distilled into a series of short videos, which we will publish on our website and LinkedIn page over the coming weeks. I hope everyone will find them interesting and thought-provoking. Feel free to contribute your thoughts in the comments section of our LinkedIn posts.
I believe that these videos will be of interest to anyone in construction and housing anywhere in the UK, because while we discussed circumstances in Scotland, the same issues and possible solutions are true across the entire country.
Because ultimately, delivering a just transition while building more comfortable and affordable homes for people in a way that is positive to the environment and sustainable for developers, landlords and tenants, is a challenge that will only be achieved by us all working together.
Mike Stevenson, Technical Specification Advisor at NorDan UK
Check out all the videos from our roundtable, The Road to Net Zero Housing in Scotland:
- What are the barriers to delivering more affordable homes in Scotland?
- Is Passivhaus the right approach for Scotland?
- Is the Scottish Government hampering the delivery of more affordable homes?
- How realistic is 110,100 affordable new homes in Scotland by 2032?
- How realistic is net zero in Scotland by 2045?
- How can the industry in Scotland better work together?
