Barry McKeown: Planning the key to building a future for Scotland

IF THE property industry is to play a key role in the SNP's ambition to keep Scotland moving forward, the new Holyrood government needs to look at developing a more efficient and effective planning system.

The SNP has committed to a series of improvements to the planning system - a process it had already embarked upon before the election.

Developers still face frustratingly long timescales for determining applications, despite the fall in the number of planning applications.

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Decisions should be quicker but resources will need to be given to public authorities if planning performance is to improve. Where they can come from will be a pressing issue.

Although the SNP is committed to involving communities at an earlier stage and engaging them more effectively in the design of developments, there are concerns that the current pre-application consultation for major development is not resulting in quicker decisions. Legislation should be introduced to change unnecessary, disproportionate and inflexible pre-application requirements.

New and consented development also needs to be unlocked and more flexibility in negotiation and re-negotiation of developer contributions should be introduced both in legislative and policy terms. Developers will want the re-elected government to hammer home to planning authorities the need for realistic expectations on developers' contributions and that development viability should be fully considered to kick start development and the economy.

A key priority for the housebuilding sector in particular, is for the SNP to deliver on manifesto commitments for a "tenure-neutral" approach to housing, while the growth in social housing development during the last four years was welcomed,

Scotland needs a vibrant private housing sector to stimulate the economy by providing jobs and wider macro economic benefits and also to deliver on the home ownership aspirations of Scots, which have, according to recent studies, increased by 20 per cent since 2007. Commitments that free up and encourage financing for home buyers and housing developers are key to delivering on these major economic benefits.

Financing generally, or the difficulty in obtaining it, still remains a issue for the property industry. In spite of action by central government and regulators, and successful recapitalisation, funders remain in many cases unwilling to lend on property and there is a lack of appetite for new debt, especially where there is perceived risk.

That continues to emphasise a funding gap both in terms of new and refinanced loans, while banks have had to increase pricing and impose tougher conditions to ensure that they are only funding transactions with a strong likelihood of success. Those that are lending are cautious in their outlook, looking to existing customers with whom they have a good relationship and a good track record, and avoiding anything speculative.The Scottish Government's ability to promote private sector lending in this context is probably limited, with banks subject to central UK regulation, capital market pressures and, in the case of the Scottish giants, public ownership.

What it can do in the short term is to allocate funding to infrastructure and general economic stimulus, including the use of innovative structures such as the anticipated redevelopment of the Edinburgh waterfront to be funded through the use of tax increment financing, and it will be interesting to see whether the commitments being made to infrastructure development are followed through over the coming years.

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The Scotland Bill - still going through the UK Parliament - will shape the Scottish Government's ability to use tax changes to stoke the property market. The extent to which the SNP will be able to push the UK government to grant other tax powers to the Scottish Government beyond those currently envisaged by the Bill remains to be seen.

• Barry McKeown is real estate partner at Semple Fraser, the law firm.