The modern regime of planning permission dates back to the years following the First World War and to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act which was enacted after the Second World War in 1947. Since then, the position has become that a large proportion of people in Scotland live in houses which they have had to borrow enormous sums to be able to afford to buy, often equivalent to more than 10 years' wages after tax. Such debtors have usually had to agree, in return for borrowing the money, to allow the titles to their homes to be subject to charges imposed by the moneylenders. Coupled with the propensity to borrow, the scarcity of available land because of the planning permission regime has had a major upward effect on prices. People have been caught in a vicious circle of insecurity, indebtedness, and high prices. They also find themselves in a weaker position with regard to their employers, being at risk of losing their family homes if they tell their employers that they want better conditions, or higher salaries, or shorter hours, or else they will quit.
There is no good reason for the norm to be for people to fall into huge debt just to be able to own a home.
By increasing the supply of land, the desired reform would cause a large-scale reduction in land prices.
It would reduce indebtedness.
It would make for better conditions of employment.
And it would encourage people to express themselves in designing and building the homes in which they live
What is needed is primary legislation to amend the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to abolish all restrictions which current planning law places on this kind of building work.