Amazing Spaces architect George Clarke: 'Scotland needs to build more houses'

Amazing Spaces architect George Clarke has told STV News that more houses must be built in Scotland.

The Channel 4 TV presenter was in Banchory, Aberdeenshire over the weekend with housing lobby group Homes for Scotland in a bid to highlight the need for higher levels of housebuilding.

He said that supply wasn’t keeping up with demand and increasing building would help bring down prices.

“We need to build more houses. That’s really, really important,” Mr Clarke said.

“There’s this massive demand – we’ve got a shortage of supply as well – and the only way that we’re going to make houses even more affordable is to provide more homes so that you get the supply and demand balance right.”

Mr Clarke’s comments come as councils across Scotland are struggling with ongoing housing issues.

More than a dozen local authorities – and the Scottish Parliament – have declared housing emergencies, and the issue continues to impact people’s lives.

Mr Clarke’s Banchory visit comes just ahead of the one year anniversary of the Scottish Government declaring a national housing emergency last May.

Just weeks ago, Edinburgh Council agreed to suspend its housing policy in an “unprecedented” move to address a growing homelessness crisis.

Homes for Scotland said one in four Scottish households have been currently identified as being in some form of housing need, with a shortfall of over 100,000 homes accumulating since 2008.

“The stark reality is that so many people across the country are unable to even begin to dream of what it’s like to have their own home as simply not enough houses are being built,” Mr Clarke said.

“I’m fully behind Homes for Scotland’s campaigning for more discussions to take place around more homes being built in Scotland and encouraging government to take action.”

Jane Wood, the chief executive of Homes for Scotland, also told STV News that regulatory barriers had to be removed for builders to increase construction rates.

“We know that we’ve got a significant shortage [of housing],” Ms Wood said.

The environment for building homes – social, affordable, and private – continues to be “really challenging”, she said.

“I think the concerns are more about the intervention that we’re going to do to create immediate change for a better long-term future of home building,” she added.

The Homes for Scotland lobby group’s primary purpose is to “deliver more homes for Scotland”. It represents 200 member organisations and works with government at all levels and other relevant bodies to make the case for increasing housing supply – and the removal of barriers to achieve that.

Mr Clarke explained that building houses is complicated and difficult process that can take a long time.

“You’ve got to get the balance right between what we’ve built and the built environment and nature,” he said.