We particularly welcome the following commitments: 

• Housing and affordability: The ambition to deliver over 8,000 affordable homes in the next year, including for social and mid-market rent, remove barriers on stalled building sites with the potential to deliver up to 20,000 new homes and invest £768 million to implement the recommendations of the Housing Investment Taskforce to tackle the housing emergency. The inclusion of rural and island housing support and measures to reduce long-term empty homes is especially positive. 

• Decarbonising heat and energy efficiency: Supporting 20,000 households to save up to £500 on energy bills per year, by investing £300 million in 2025-26 to help households and other building owners install energy efficiency and clean heating measures, continuing commitment to a Heat in Buildings Bill signal clear attempts to reduce emissions from homes and buildings and to tackle one of the causes of fuel poverty. Efforts to simplify access to grants and loans through Home Energy Scotland will help more households access support.  

• Skills: The introduction of a new Scottish Government-led approach to national skills planning, alongside regional skills planning, is a step towards aligning post-school education with Scotland’s long-term economic and climate goals. The £3.5 million investment in college programmes to support priority sectors such as offshore wind demonstrates welcome recognition of the need to prepare the workforce for a low-carbon future. Plans to secure a sustainable future for colleges and universities and to better connect skills policy with strategic economic priorities offer an opportunity to support the construction sector’s transition to net zero. 

• Just transition: The continuation of the North East and Moray Just Transition Fund, with a new bidding round worth up to £8.5 million, is a welcome commitment to place-based investment in regions undergoing industrial transition. The focus on supporting projects that create jobs, build skills, and stimulate local economic opportunities aligns well with the need to deliver net zero in a way that is fair and inclusive. Support for innovation hubs, regional manufacturing, and skills development, through initiatives such as the Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray, the Edinburgh Innovation Hub, and the expansion of the UHI Outer Hebrides campus also contribute to a broader just transition by helping to anchor economic activity and climate action in communities across Scotland. 

However, we note areas where the Programme for Government could have been more ambitious: 

• The construction and manufacturing sectors should be consistently recognised as enablers of economic growth, net zero delivery, or high-quality job creation. There is an untapped potential in improving the connectivity between housing and Heat in Buildings ambitions to Scotland’s wider construction skills and supply chain development, especially in modern methods of construction and low-carbon manufacturing. 

• The Programme could go further to acknowledge the opportunities for investment in retrofit, modern methods of construction and low carbon building technologies. 

• Skills funding is positive but could be more ambitious by recognising the urgent need to support colleges and businesses to develop capacity in house building, retrofit, energy efficiency, and sustainable building practices which are skills central to meeting net zero targets. 

• There is still no new detail on the Heat in Buildings Bill. It is important given its role in shaping retrofit demand that industry and supply chains get the clarity, timelines, and certainty they need to scale delivery and investment. 

• The Programme speaks of Scotland as an ‘innovation nation' but the commitments could go further to make the connection between innovation in construction technology, materials, or decarbonisation of the built environment. 

The Government is also committed to reducing child poverty which the built environment can play a key role in through ensuring access to affordable, safe, comfortable housing for all. To achieve the Government’s vision, a more integrated approach is needed - one that fully harnesses the built environment as a driver of economic growth, climate action, and positive social change.  

BE-ST is here to work with Government to ensure these ambitions are delivered in ways that support local jobs, resilient supply chains, and affordable and comfortable places to live and work.