On Wednesday 11 September, there was a Members’ Debate in the Scottish Parliament on Retrofitting and Tenement Maintenance, sponsored by Graham Simpson MSP. The debate, prompted by a motion submitted by Mr Simpson, partly focused on the recent ‘Meeting Scotland’s Retrofit Challenge’ report. 

The report was jointly published in May by 14 built environment sector organisations, all members of the ‘Retrofit Roundtable’, an industry-wide group coordinated by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in Scotland. 

Given the CIOB’s contributions to this discussion and specifically to Mr Simpson’s motion and the debate, I opted to watch from the Scottish Parliament’s public gallery. 
Throughout the debate, I was encouraged by the urgency recognised by MSPs from across the chamber on the need to take action to remove the myriad barriers to retrofit, repair and maintenance works in Scotland. 

I was particularly struck by three elements of the discussion: the collaborative spirit and level of consensus across the chamber; the nuanced understanding of the complexities of this issue; and the renewed calls for policy levers that, while outwith the immediate scope of the debate, could go a long way towards supporting Scotland’s retrofit and maintenance objectives. 

I cannot overstate the level of collaboration and consensus on display throughout the debate. Graham Simpson MSP opened discussions recognising “there has always been cross-party interest in this important topic,” while Mark Griffin MSP offered to work with colleagues from across the chamber to support calls to UK Government for VAT reform. Throughout the debate, members often extended thanks to their colleagues for their ongoing work in this space.

Regardless of party, there was a frank, nuanced discussion about the current challenges relating to retrofit. These thorough discussions ranged from public funding limitations to the complexity of Scotland’s tenure system, to the need to implement finance-generating mechanisms ensuring homeowners can afford potentially expensive maintenance works.

As CIOB has argued before, the absence of frameworks to tackle retrofit projects in mixed tenure and tenement buildings poses risks to Scotland’s ability to retrofit at the pace and scale necessary to meet net zero and fuel poverty targets. It also hinders our ability to address the housing emergency. 

MSPs duly recognised these challenges. Encouragingly, Ben Macpherson MSP sparked a discussion about the need to address the absence of these frameworks to facilitate regulations and proposals through legislation such as the Heat in Buildings bill. 

There is recognition groundwork must be done now to consider the appropriate approach to developing and designing legislation supporting retrofit and maintenance works without negatively impacting homeowners, particularly those who are already facing fuel poverty and a cost-of-living crisis.

Ben Macpherson MSP argued: “We need to take the time now to work through the development of the hard law and human rights considerations that are part of the issue. In the next session of Parliament, we will need to legislate quickly and implement the changes as soon as possible after that.”

Similarly, Miles Briggs MSP noted: “Parliament, in a collective and cross-party way, needs to look now at what actions can be taken early in the next parliamentary session…a commitment is needed from all parties to support a tenement maintenance bill in the next session of Parliament.”  

Finally, it was heartening to see a holistic, cross-portfolio approach adopted during the debate. MSPs advocated for wider policy and legislative change that could support widescale retrofit, repair and maintenance works in Scotland. 

An important cross-party exchange took place about the need for VAT reform, with the SNP’s Ben Macpherson urging his Scottish Labour colleagues to assist in calling on Westminster to make the necessary changes to the VAT structure to bolster widescale retrofit works in Scotland. 

Taking a similarly holistic approach to discussions, Arianne Burgess MSP echoed Macpherson’s calls for VAT reform and renewed calls for the Scottish Parliament to give local authorities powers to raise a demolition levy, a proposal initially outlined in the CIOB’s ‘Levelling the Playing Field’ discussion paper.

As CIOB has said many times both individually and as part of the Retrofit Roundtable collective, a joined-up, holistic policymaking approach will be needed if Scotland is to reach its targets and meet the retrofit challenges we are facing. 

It will be a long road ahead, and careful consideration and extensive consultation will be necessary to avoid unintended consequences. Nevertheless, having watched this debate, I can’t help but feel a bit of optimism about the tone struck in the chamber and the capacity and willingness of its members to take urgent action on this important issue.