Set to be operational in early 2025, the Housing Planning Hub will tackle the reasons for delays including waits on decisions for major developments, lengthy negotiations of section 75 agreements, funding issues, or policy requirements to address issues such as flooding or biodiversity.

The new hub, which is being staffed and funded by the Scottish Government, will see officials working collaboratively with local authorities and industry partners where there is mutual agreement.

It forms part of a range of actions unveiled by public finance minister Ivan McKee to help planning authorities will increase the speed of approvals, deliver more new homes and grow the number of planners.

The Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan will also triple the number of current student bursaries made available to encourage more future planners and address staff shortages, stop work on the Infrastructure Levy and refocus on improving guidance on section 75 planning obligations, and finally consider how Permitted Development Rights could remove the need for permission, for example for converting flats above shops.

The announcement follows this week’s statistics showing that the average processing time for major residential applications had increased to 60 weeks despite a 29% fall in the volume of applications.

Outlining the actions to Parliament yesterday, Mr McKee said the new hub will stimulate Scotland’s housing supply and support economic growth.

He added: “Planning has not created the housing emergency, but it can help us to find solutions to the challenges we are facing.

“The Scottish Government is focused on working with partner organisations to identify how our planning system can help to provide these solutions.

“This decisive and properly targeted action, based on evidence, will provide more homes and better places for people to live in.”

The Housing Planning Hub will complement the Planning Hub for Hydrogen developments announced as part of the Programme for Government in September.

The 2025/26 bursaries will be available for post-graduate study at the Planning Schools in Heriot-Watt, Dundee or Glasgow Universities. Access to internships and industry placements will also be facilitated by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

Home building body Homes for Scotland (HFS) said the “overdue” measures present an opportunity for “tangible results in next 12 months”.

HFS chief executive Jane Wood said: “In the context of the housing emergency, this announcement is six months overdue but nonetheless very welcome, recognising as it does the key role that the planning system has to play in facilitating the delivery of more homes of all tenures across Scotland and the need for it to be properly equipped to do so. It is clear that the minister has clearly listened to sector concerns and taken steps to address them. We applaud him for doing so, and to committing to ensuring tangible results in the next 12 months.

“Given the scale of the challenge that faces us, this will be no easy task and there is clearly much detail to be unpicked – for example, we do not recognise the figures referenced regarding the number of homes having been granted planning permission but not yet built and would suggest that they do not reflect either the complexity of the myriad of issues facing home builders or the very real nature of the housing emergency.

“But this is the opportunity for a positive reset and we are fully dedicated to working with stakeholders, including government at all levels and our colleagues in local planning authorities, to provide the homes that meet the needs of all those living in Scotland and that they can afford. The ‘Team Scotland’ approach and ambition to use the planning system to make our country the most attractive part of the UK for investment is both refreshing and reinvigorating. We will play our full part in helping to achieve this.”

Specific measures announced by the Minister for Public Finance include the establishment of a further Planning Hub to support housing delivery and the stopping of work on the introduction of an infrastructure levy, with the focus instead to be on improving guidance on Section 75 planning agreements.

With regards to SME home builders and the sites referenced by the minister which have been permissioned but not taken forward, Ms Wood said: “We have already published a comprehensive package of recommendations to support SME home builders in June on which an official response from the Scottish Government is awaited and followed this up with a roundtable discussion between members and the ministers for housing and public finance in August so we trust work in this area will be able to move at pace.

“On the stalling of sites, we are already working with members to understand the reasons behind any such examples and look forward to interrogating the Scottish Government’s datasets when published to assist with this.”

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, added: “Reforming Scotland’s planning system is key to making housing more affordable and measures to create a new planning hub and increasing the capacity of local authorities by training additional planners to accelerate planning applications will help build the homes that Scotland needs.

“However, as the minister said, planning isn’t the only solution to unlock more homes in Scotland and solve the housing crisis. Reviewing the tax people pay when purchasing property, bringing more empty homes back into use through financial grant support, building more social homes, introducing tax incentives to encourage investment in the private rental sector as well as requiring local authorities to have a plan for retirement housing and incentivising people to right size can also boost the supply of homes. Propertymark will continue to call for action in these areas.”