Four months into her new job as Homes for Scotland (HFS) chief executive, Jane Wood is ready to tackle some of the sector's biggest issues.
Chief among them is the sector's perception problem, with a public often opposed to new houses being built, due to views often founded in out of date information about the industry's impact.
"I'm astonished at how anecdotal perceptions of this industry are - there's a really unfounded reputation across broader society, which just isn't supported by the realities.
"People seem to think that new houses are being build all over the place, but only 2.1% of Scotland's land is built upon."
Similarly, accusations of 'rabbit hutch' homes are countered by a data sample of HFS members showing that new homes in Scotland are larger than the mean floor area of new homes in England and Wales at 96 square metres – 25% bigger than the commonly referred to figure of 76 square metres, which itself has been traced back to 1983.
Wood also argues: "People just don't see the social value of housing - it's really a force for good - every private new home built generates £30,500 in developer contributions to community infrastructure; 65% of which relates to affordable housing."
The Scottish home building sector also annually contributes £3.4bn to the economy and supports around 80,000 jobs.
As for the challenges currently being faced by the 200 HFS member organisations, supply chain costs are the biggest headache, followed by a lack of the right labour and skills.
"It's a tough time for the smaller developers, but they're vital to the sector and wider economy – the number of active SME home builders has declined by a staggering 40% in the 10 years to 2017/18, which means there are around 2,000 less homes a year being built," states Wood, arguing that they need financial support to survive.
Another issue facing developers is planning permission, with the average time from application to planning consent currently sitting at an average of 55 weeks in Scotland - which is a significant lag, given the amount of upfront capital required to buy land and put together proposals.
"Something needs to be done with local development planning, as there's only a finite amount of space available in towns and cities, so clearly more brownfield and green belt land is required – as well as more innovative uses of existing land," says Wood.
"We're facilitating events to explore these things with both developers and local authorities," she continues, adding: "We need to tackle the rabbit holes that prevent us from achieving the shared goals of developers and government."
Wood moved back to Scotland from BT, where she was group UK nations and regions director, responsible for managing relationships with public bodies, politicians and other key stakeholders.
In the 12 years prior to this, she was chief executive in Scotland and UK executive director for the membership organisation Business in the Community.
Having also been head of corporate affairs for Scotland and Northern Ireland at Walgreens Boots Alliance, Wood said that "it's been quite a jump coming from a global brand back to Scotland", but that she's relishing the opportunity to shape policy again.
Obviously, chief among her lobbying priorities is building more homes.
Wood laments that Scotland is facing a chronic shortage, which from 2007 levels alone is now approaching a deficit of 100,000 homes.
More positively, Scottish Government figures from June showed that the target of building 50,000 affordable homes has been met, although Wood reckons there is “no room for complacency” while activity is still below pre-Covid levels.
A representative sample of HFS members suggests that 30% of affordable housing is delivered through developer contributions, going up against another misconception "about private developers just building four-bed houses for wealthy people", according to Wood.
Part of the problem, she says, is that the house building sector is "slightly digitally immature" and there are huge gaps in the data recorded and analysed.
"We need better contextual figures to tell our story – developers could certainly be better at measuring and reporting on things like sustainable development.
"Accountability and integrity are key - it's a competitive disadvantage not to be - as we're in such a demand-led industry, housebuilders listen to what consumers want."
Increasingly it appears this is in-built electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and even solar panels – although Wood cautions that a balance must be struck, or such environmental technologies could increase the cost of new houses to prohibitive levels.
Wood also takes up her post as HFS moves into a new strategic period, with the current five-year cycle coming to an end.
The organisation's annual conference on 21 September will be a chance to understand what members want and develop policy accordingly, she adds.
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