First Minister John Swinney has announced plans to create a new national housing agency aimed at boosting home building in Scotland.
The agency, to be called More Homes Scotland, is intended to deliver homes more quickly and affordably, amid what ministers have declared a national housing emergency.
Swinney said the body would begin operating in 2027-28 if the SNP is returned to government at May’s Holyrood election, with full operation targeted for 2028-29.
The agency will focus on large-scale affordable housing, rural and island housing, land acquisition, and infrastructure work on stalled sites.
Mr Swinney said: “A new national agency will mean less duplication, greater expertise, increased efficiencies, and making our substantial investment go further.”
He added: “It is a new body that will offer simplicity, scale and speed - boosting delivery, and maximising savings, as part of our commitment to a decade of public sector modernisation and reform.”
Scottish Conservative housing spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher said: “Scotland is in the grip of a housing emergency because of the SNP's appalling failure to deliver the homes we have needed over the last two decades.”
She added: “Yet John Swinney's latest plan is to set up another quango that won't even be fully up and running for another two years.”