Recommendation 18

We therefore invite the Scottish Government to provide an update on its current position and any next steps in respect of the following suggestions and challenges as raised by stakeholders:
The need for investment in small-scale builders, infrastructure and training to help make construction in rural communities more viable;
What more can be done to encourage housing to be constructed in communities which are most in need and to ensure adequate transport and infrastructure links where necessary;
The need to enable greater flexibility in the planning system;
The need to encourage large landowners to make land available for house construction where alternative options are limited or do not exist;
The impact of large numbers of short-term lets and people from elsewhere buying up properties in rural communities, particularly on Scotland’s islands.