Key updates available for future Highland house building and school roll forecasts
4th December 2018
The latest outlook for future housing delivery and school roll forecasts across Highland has been announced by the Highland Council today (Tuesday 4 December 2018).
The joint publication of the Housing Land Audit and School Roll Forecast provides up to date forecasts for housing delivery and school rolls across the Highland Council area and will be used to monitor, implement and share details of the actions needed to support future housing growth.
The documents are available on the council's website at the following links:
https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/20048/housing_land_audit_2018_summary
https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/download/1648/school_roll_forecasts_november_2018
These annual publications are aligned to provide accurate monitoring of infrastructure and development and allow the Council to prioritise capital investment decisions.
The Housing Land Audit 2018 is an assessment of the housing land supply available in the Highland Council area as at 1 June 2018. The audit sets out a programme of expected housing delivery over the initial 5 year period and the following 10 years and includes expectations for the delivery of new homes up to 2032. This year the Council has introduced a new "Storymap" presenting this information along with the interactive online tool which which makes it easier to view the information set out in the Housing Land Audit
https://highland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=d926d0810bfa4688a8be082431c7f10e
Regularly updated house completions information is now available to view in a dashboard display format through the following link:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/f827c80f82364d7b82ba5eca454f9f5e
This gives access to the latest reported information on Highland-wide housing delivery.
The main findings are that the existing planned developments provide an adequate supply of available housing land across the Highland area. The publication follows a consultation earlier in the year which invited responses from developers, landowners, Housing Associations, public agencies and the public to help identify more accurate and realistic forecasts of housing delivery, and the timing of supporting infrastructure.
The School Roll Forecasts identify the expected pupil rolls for each of the primary and secondary schools across Highland over the next 15 years. The forecasts, which are updated annually, incorporate a wide range of factors including the programmed rate of housing development (from the Housing Land Audit), population changes and school placing requests. These are used to identify school roll pressures and capacity issues in future years, and are a key element in the prioritisation of capital investment in schools.
The Council is also intending to use the information in these audit documents to publish its first Delivery Programme for Caithness and Sutherland as well as an updated version for the Inner Moray Firth area. These Delivery Programmes will be used to coordinate investment in development and infrastructure and will be reviewed and amended on an ongoing basis. A Delivery Programme for the West Highland and Islands will be published next year.
Councillor Allan Henderson, Chair of the Council's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee said: "The alignment of these publications provides the Council with detailed and up to date information on where development will happen and what infrastructure is needed. This will allow us to better plan for Council services and the school estate for the future to support communities."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
11/12/2025
Exciting Career Opportunities With The Highland Council Now Open For Applications
# 10 December 2025 Career opportunities with The Highland Council The Highland Council is looking to fill a variety of posts relating to civil engineering and flood risk management based in locations across the area. Included are opportunities specifically for civil engineering graduates and technicians, providing the ideal job with career progression for anyone recently qualified and ready for a varied and interesting role.
8/12/2025
What the NC500 Research Projects Are Designed to Do - and Why They Matter for the Highlands
As the North Coast 500 approaches its tenth anniversary, it has become one of Scotland's most well-known tourism success stories. The 516-mile loop around the far north of the Highlands has been celebrated internationally, marketed as a world-class road trip, and credited with transforming visitor numbers in some of Scotland’s most remote areas.7/12/2025
Help Shape the Future of Thurso
The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say. This is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.
7/12/2025
Are Scottish Councils Quietly Reversing Outsourcing? A Look at Insourcing, Cuts and the Highland IT Shift
A notable article in the Guardian on 6 December 2025 noted the high sums being paid by London councils outsourcing services to private firms. The article starts with the reduction in council funding by UK government since 2010.4/12/2025
Council welcomes Visitor Levy flexibility plan
The Highland Council welcomes moves by the Scottish Government to introduce greater flexibility on how it could design a Visitor Levy Scheme for consultation. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 currently provides local authorities with discretionary powers to implement percentage-based levies following statutory consultation.4/12/2025
Highland Council is reaching out for views to shape its next 26/27 budget.
As it looks to set out its forthcoming priorities, the council is seeking involvement from members of the public, including businesses, community groups, parents, and young people. All their opinions are going to be crucial in deciding how Highland Council will take on its budget challenge for 2026-2027.4/12/2025
Have your say in Thurso's future £100million investment by attending public consultation events
Thurso is to benefit from £100m investment in education and community facilities and are rolling out the first phase of public consultations on 9 and 10 December 2025. The Highland Council is inviting people that live, work, or study in Thurso, to come along to the public consultation events to have their say; this is an opportunity to help shape the future of Thurso, to gather views and ideas.2/12/2025
Finding new owners for empty homes - Scheme launched to help return more empty homes to active use
A new online portal has been launched to bring empty homeowners together with prospective buyers or developers with the aim of facilitating more properties to be used as homes again. Covering the whole of Scotland, this builds on the success of local pilots, referred to as "matchmaker schemes".1/12/2025
Consideration for short term let control area in Skye and Raasay
Steps towards introducing a short term let control area have been considered by Highland Council's Isle of Skye and Raasay area committee. On Monday (1 December 2025) the committee heard evidence to justify the grounds for the introduction of a Short Term Let Control Area covering all or part of Skye and Raasay.28/11/2025
Workforce North event spotlights Highland economy
EMPLOYERS and educators from across the Highlands have gathered to hear how a new initiative is aiming to transform the region's economy. Workforce North - A Call to Action brought together business leaders and teachers from primary and secondary schools from across the Highland Council area with a wide range of partners geared towards education, learning and skills development at Strathpeffer Pavillion.
Our Social Media
