Industry body Homes for Scotland (HfS) has welcomed a number of proposals to revamp the country's planning system.

A total of 20 recommendations have been unveiled to transform the system, which aim to support economic growth, the delivery of houses and increase community involvement in planning decisions.

A consultation on the proposals has now been launched, which will help form a new planning bill to be brought forward this year.

Nicola Barclay, Chief Executive of HfS, said while it was pleasing to see some of the organisation's recommendations (put forward during the course of an independent review) incorporated into the consultation, further detail is needed on how the changes would work in practice.

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Recent figures have revealed planning decision times for major housing applications have fallen to 48.5 weeks, more than three times the statutory period.

Ms Barclay said: "Scotland needs significantly more homes for its growing population but builders are finding it harder than ever to make a start on new sites and get houses out of the ground.

"We are therefore pleased to see some of the recommendations we put forward during the course of the independent review, such as the introduction of clear national and regional aspirations for housing delivery and 'embedding an infrastructure first approach', incorporated into today's consultation.

"But more detail is needed on how other proposals, such as 'giving people an opportunity to plan their own place', would work in practice so we will be listening closely to the views of our members as we review the consultation document in depth and develop our submission.

"Ensuring we have the homes we need to deliver Scotland's future economic success and social well-being must be the golden thread running through this transformation."

(LM)