Scotland’s unique opportunities were at the forefront of Scotland Development Conference’s first session titled “Scotland is Now” – named after the global campaign launched by the Government to position Scotland as a forward-thinking country for people to visit, live, work, study and invest. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Robin Blacklock- Vice Chairman of the Scottish Property Federation- described the strong platform the Scottish property market has: ‘‘As an overall package commercial property in Scotland is pretty strong and resilient, and small to medium industries are showing reasonable growth in demand too.”

The transformation of Dundee was highlighted by Blacklock as one huge success story in Scotland. He said: “We all look at Dundee and the transformation it has gone through compared to what it was even 10 years ago.”

John Alexander, Leader of Dundee City Council, echoed these sentiments, adding: “I wouldn’t even say 10 years ago, I’d say five years ago, the transformation is quite stark” jokingly declaring that “2019 was the year Dundee was born.” 

Alexander remarked on the scale of the award-winning transformation which has since gained global recognition: “Never would I have imagined, even as a politician in Dundee, that we’d be voted The Sunday Times’ Best Place to Live in Scotland, or that we’d be on the front page of Time magazine.” 

Despite Dundee’s wider success he also recognised that the closure of the Michelin factory provided a challenge for the city, describing it as a “difficult year as well’’ stressing the importance of following up the success with “tangible benefits on the ground.”

Some of these benefits have been afforded by the recent £1bn redevelopment of the Dundee Waterfront which has provided the core of the city’s transformation. Rose Jenkins, the Director of Estates at the University of Dundee highlighted the university’s role in being a founding partner of the flagship Dundee V&A museum on the Waterfront, an £80m project and symbol of the wider revitalisation.

Jenkins also referred to the university’s acquisition of £45m in funding from the £1bn Tay Cities Deal, going towards creating 1000 new jobs in the area, particularly in life sciences, forensics and drug development. She also referenced the “huge capital investment at the university’s three campuses” – at the City Centre, Ninewells and Kirkcaldy. 

Collaboration between public sector leaders and councils across Scotland has been an area of focus for authorities in Scotland as elaborated by David Littlejohn, Head of Planning at Perth and Kinross Council who stressed the importance of this approach to economic growth: ‘‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, it’s about how we move people around the country to link economic opportunities and need.”

Dundee’s Alexander expressed similar sentiments, arguing for collaboration both “across geographies” but also across different sectors “it’s individuals, it’s industries, it’s councils.” 

He outlined government plans to spend £200m on improving infrastructure in the Perth and Kinross area and the need for developer contributions to unlock land.  

Ken Ross, Chief Executive at Ross Developments & Renewables spoke on the high demand and need for affordable housing, labeling it “phenomenal”, highlighting their recent construction project as an example of the demand: “We put out an advert on social media for 50 affordable homes, and we had to stop taking names at 290.”

He also spoke on how the government was trying to provide a “competitive advantage in the affordable housing sector”, mentioning how their most recent development was financed without “a single penny” of government funds. Ross mentioned that it was an area where the government “listened to us” by lowering the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to 1% for affordable homes as opposed to 3% in England. 

Commercial property in Scotland is highly desired, with Blacklock remarking that “office markets in Edinburgh and Glasgow are both categorized by strong demand although supply is challenging.”

Despite this sky-high demand, there have been obstacles to development, with Ross describing the Scottish planning system as a “showstopper”, highlighting how delays and the need to resubmit plans have held back development. But Littlejohn countered by arguing that the system had come a long way and was now better resourced, with a planning reform being a key objective of The Scottish Government’s agenda which was the focus of a key note speech by Head of Planning John McNairney later in the day at the Conference.

Preservation is also a key issue with any redevelopment,  Jenkins rejected the notion that it is a ‘millstone’ around the neck of planners, instead seeing it as a challenge to develop around. Alexander pointed out the subjectivity on the matter of preservation describing a “very wide spectrum of what you would consider to be valuable assets.”

He also pointed out that developments from the last ten years have often costed more in maintenance than historical buildings, being largely responsible for a “£5m overspend on our in-year budget, most of that related to corporate property.”

The climate crisis is a key area that Scottish development must tackle, with Ross describing it as a “corporate social responsibility.”

Jenkins stressed the need to adopt modern methods of housing insulation, discussing how the university had collaborated with the Edinburgh and Glasgow city councils to adapt the European ‘Passive House’ model of homes with incredibly high energy efficiency. 

In summary the panel agreed that Scotland is marked by its openness to development, a booming demand for property, government support to ensure that growth is sustainable and the possibility of real transformation. [/emaillocker]