Scotland's Housing to 2040 vision with actions on heat, efficiency and construction
25 March 2021
Scottish Government has issued a vision document called 'Housing to 2040' which you can download from this page. This sets out actions to improve Scotland's stock of new and existing homes. Recently Scotland has also issued consultations on zero direct emissions in new build homes and a plan for existing homes to have zero direct emissions heating when replacing a system. The following is a summary of the key proposals across the new housing document and other recent policy documents such as the draft Scottish Heat in Buildings Strategy:
New homes
- Zero direct emissions heating in new homes from 2024
- Improvements to energy efficiency of new homes in 2021 and 2024
- New social rented homes to be zero emissions by 2026
- Strategy to be published in 2021 for zero emission new affordable homes – also encouraging offsite construction
Existing homes
- Direct Govt spending on local fuel poverty support
- Require Local Authorities to develop LHEES (Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies)
- Continue to offer interest-free loans for heat & energy efficiency
- Green Heat Finance Taskforce to be established in 2021
- Consult on reforms to EPCs in 2021
- Develop proposals to require zero or near zero emissions heating in existing buildings from 2025
- Continue to tighten minimum EPC standards for rented homes and introduce these for owner-occupied homes
- New public engagement strategy for heat in buildings in 2021
Other measures
- Continuing to develop strategies to improve skills
- New housing standards to improve quality and consistency and reduce faults
- New Accessible Homes Standard
- Encourage more offsite construction
- Develop new business model for delivery of affordable homes with ‘greater standardisation of components’
