On the edge of Forfar, a small market town in eastern Scotland, the final phase of Guild Homes’ Strathmore Fields development is nearly complete — and it may mark the end of the company’s story.
As the last bricks are laid, managing director Mark Guild faces an uncertain future. “We cannot survive in the current planning environment — there is no new land available for us to build houses on,” he said. With no new plots approved, the family-owned builder that employs over 30 people, including Guild’s own relatives, risks shutting down after decades of local work.
A Local Struggle Reflecting a National Crisis
Guild Homes has repeatedly asked Angus Council to allocate farmland for its proposed 216-home Turfbeg West project, next to its current site. Despite providing nearly three-quarters of new homes in the area since 2012, the company’s pleas have gone unanswered. “We’ve built homes faster than the government and council can deliver planning consents,” Guild said, describing the situation as “closure staring us in the face.”
The builder’s plight is emblematic of Scotland’s worsening housing crisis, which has been fueled by planning delays, a shortage of planners, and strict land-use policies that have throttled supply.
Planning Delays and Land Shortages
Scotland has been constructing roughly the same number of homes per capita as England, but progress is slowing. In the year to June, the number of completed homes fell 6%, while new starts declined 3%.
Industry group Homes for Scotland warns that the number of small and medium-sized homebuilders — vital for rural areas — has collapsed by 70% since the 2008 financial crisis, primarily due to “sustained” planning delays. “Without SMEs, we cannot unlock the sites that matter most in communities where the housing emergency is most acute,” said Jane Wood, the organization’s chief executive.
Similarly, Faisal Choudhry of Savills noted: “Delivery continues to be hindered by planning delays, the main pinch point in Scottish housing supply.”
The Impact of New Planning Rules
The introduction of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) in 2023 has tightened restrictions on new greenfield development, favoring brownfield regeneration and integration with existing infrastructure. While the policy aims to promote sustainable growth, it has unintentionally limited available land for housing in rural areas like Forfar.
Councils, already struggling with staffing shortages, are years behind in updating their local development plans — the key documents that determine which land can be used for housing.
Angus Council, for instance, has delayed its new plan until 2030 — nine years behind schedule — citing a lack of resources. Of its 17 planners, only five are working on the plan. This means no new housing land has been allocated since 2016, creating a severe bottleneck for developers.
Projects Stalled by Red Tape and Local Opposition
Even where land is technically available, projects are stalling.
Two major Forfar sites, Westfield and Gowanbank, remain undeveloped after applications were rejected due to local objections and legal complications.
Angus Council maintains that its housing pipeline is still “deliverable,” but admits that infrastructure issues, rising material costs, and planning objections have slowed progress.
Government Response and Industry Pushback
The Scottish government insists that around 167,000 potential homes already have planning approval — enough to meet demand for years. However, industry leaders argue that half of these sites require additional technical consents, which can add years to project timelines.
Ivan McKee, Scotland’s public finance minister, said: “The system isn’t blocked; there is far more coming through planning than is being built out.”
He confirmed that the government will maintain NPF4’s plan-led approach but will consult on new fiscal incentives and penalties to accelerate housing delivery.
Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan has launched an “emergency housing action plan,” pledging up to £4.9 billion to deliver 36,000 affordable homes over four years and to increase housebuilding by 10% annually through 2028.
Yet, developers say that none of this will work without urgent planning reform. “Delivery will depend on urgent fixes to the planning system,” Wood emphasized.
“No New Land, No New Homes”
For Guild Homes, the crisis is immediate. After years of building homes for local families, it now faces closure due to an inability to secure land. “We’ve done everything right — but the system isn’t keeping pace,” Guild said.
As Scotland’s population grows and homelessness reaches its highest level in over a decade — with 10,000 children in temporary accommodation — the gap between policy ambition and housing reality continues to widen.
Unless planners, councils, and the government can break the gridlock, developers like Guild Homes may disappear altogether — taking with them the very capacity Scotland needs to build its way out of its housing emergency.
