Increasing the flow of capital into underinvested regions, places and communities across the UK is central to the Impact Investing Institute’s place-based impact investing work. Housing-led regeneration has a critical role to play in delivering that ambition, using investment in housing as a catalyst for wider economic and social renewal. Done well, it can bring underused land back into productive use, support local businesses, improve infrastructure and public spaces and create places where people want to live and work.
This is particularly relevant in Scotland, where the housing emergency has intensified the need for new approaches to delivering the homes and places communities need. Investor interest is growing, yet many projects still struggle to attract investment at the scale required. The challenge is increasingly not one of capital availability, but of creating investable opportunities where risks are fairly matched with reasonable return expectations.
Against this backdrop, the Scottish National Investment Bank, the Impact Investing Institute, PwC and The Herald convened investors, public sector leaders, local authorities, developers, advisers and policymakers from across Scotland’s housing and regeneration ecosystem to explore how public and private sector partners can work together to unlock investment and deliver better places and outcomes for communities.
About the event
Held in Glasgow, the event brought together around 70 representatives from across the housing and regeneration ecosystem. Through keynote presentations, panel discussions and facilitated workshops, participants examined the barriers to delivery, the role of public and private capital and the partnership models needed to bring regeneration projects forward at scale.
Speakers and panellists included Nicola Douglas and Susan Campbell of the Scottish National Investment Bank, James Bailey of PwC, Mark Bousfield of Aviva Capital Partners, Mark Hall of the Impact Investing Institute, Graham Smith of Glasgow City Council, David Smith-Milne of Place Capital, Kirsty Parry of Urban Union and Catherine Salmond, Editor of The Herald.
A clear conclusion from the event was that, while investor appetite for housing-led regeneration is growing, unlocking investment at scale will require stronger collaboration across the public and private sectors, clearer routes from project conception to delivery, and institutions capable of aligning stakeholders around shared long-term ambitions.
Event readout
Download the event readout to explore five key insights from the event and the priorities for action needed to mobilise long-term capital into places and communities across Scotland.
Continuing the conversation
This event formed part of Accelerating Scotland’s impact investing ecosystem, a three-part event series co-designed by the Scottish National Investment Bank and the Impact Investing Institute and aligned to the Bank’s missions of Net Zero, Place and Innovation.
The timing is particularly significant given the Scottish National Investment Bank’s role as More Homes Scotland’s commercial partner. As the new agency progresses towards operation in 2027-28 and full functionality by 2028-29, the findings from this event can provide valuable insight into how the Bank and the agency can work together.
Organisations interested in this work are invited to get in touch with Mark Hall.
Project lead
Senior Programme Manager, Place-based impact investing