Slump in output for small and medium housebuilders

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. The amount of homes being delivered by small and medium builders in Scotland has halved, according to industry research.

Homes for Scotland, the trade body, looked at data for those firms building between three and 49 units. It found that in 2017 about 40 per cent of new homes were built by companies of that size but by 2023 that fell to 20 per cent. Average annual sales were at 1,800 between 2019 and 2023 compared with 3,400 between 2006 and 2018.

Jane Wood, the HFS chief executive, described the reductions as “alarming” given the national housing emergency and the vital role smaller builders play in the sector,