Scotland's People Annual Report: Results from 2011 Scottish Household Survey

3 Housing

Introduction and Context

The Scottish Government's vision for the future of housing aims to significantly enhance the quality and sustainability of our existing housing stock and the surrounding neighbourhoods with a housing system which provides an affordable home for all.^[35] While the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS)^[36] is the primary source of information about the physical condition of housing in Scotland, the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) also includes some questions on housing which are used to explore the relationships between living circumstances and the characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of Scottish households.

This chapter presents some basic information on housing tenure in Scotland, including changes over the past decade and how tenure varies with household type, rurality and deprivation. It also looks at the changing nature of housing tenure based on the length of time people have lived at their current address.

Main Findings

• Owner occupation is the predominant tenure for most household types (64% of all households), the notable exception being for single parent households (where 47% are in social rented housing) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, single adult households (35% in the social rented sector).
• The private rented sector has shown small but consistent signs of growth from 5% in 1999 to 11% in 2011, associated with a decline in the social rented sector (around 23% for the past five years).
• The 15% most deprived areas in Scotland are characterised by high concentrations of social housing, with over half (56%) of households in the social rented sector; compared to 17% in the rest of Scotland.
• Almost half (49%) of those who have lived at their current address for less than one year are from the private rented sector. Owner occupied households show more long-term stability in staying at a single address.

Housing Tenure

The last 50 years have seen a substantial change in housing tenure in Scotland. Historically, there has been a marked increase in the proportion of owner-occupier households, from a quarter in 1961^[37] to close to two thirds in recent years (64% in 2011) (Table 3.1) although this is showing annual reductions from 66% in 2009. This was mirrored in the decline of the private and social rented sector, which in 1961 accounted for 34% and 41% of households respectively.

Reflecting changes in cultural attitudes toward home ownership, two structural factors have contributed to this shift: the introduction of the right to buy for public authority tenants in 1979 coupled with the decline of public authority new build, and the increased contribution of private sector building.

The more recent SHS data, from 2005 through to 2011, continues to give some indication that the rising trend in relation to owner-occupation may have hit a peak in the last decade, possibly in part due to increasing pressure in the housing market. While the private rented sector has shown small but consistent growth from 5% in 1999 to 11% in 2011, this has been mirrored through a decline in the social rented sector (32% to 23%).

Table 3.1: Tenure of household by year

Column percentages, 1999-2011 data

Households	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Owner occupied	61	62	64	65	65	64	66	65	66	66	66	65	64
Social rented	32	30	28	28	26	27	25	25	23	23	22	23	23
Private rented	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11
Other	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	14,679	15,547	15,566	15,073	14,880	15,942	15,395	15,618	13,406	13,814	14,190	14,214	14,358

The decline in social housing has been accompanied by substantial changes in the profile of its tenants. Data from the Scottish Census show that in 1981, the profile of social sector tenants was similar to the profile of households in society generally in terms of their size, composition, and social and economic characteristics. This is no longer the case and tenure patterns show marked differences by household type, reflecting differences in life stage and household circumstances (Table 3.2).^[38]

Owner occupation is the predominant tenure for most household types, the notable exception being for single parent households (30%) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, single adult households (44%). Almost half of single parent households are in social housing (47%), which is the predominant tenure for this group. Single adult and pensioner households are both also somewhat overrepresented in the social sector relative to other groups. Those in the private rented sector are more likely to be single parent, single adult and small adult (around one in five of each household type) compared to other household types.

Table 3.2: Tenure of household by household type

Column percentages, 2011 data

Households	Single adult	Small adult	Single parent	Small family	Large family	Large adult	Older smaller	Single pensioner	All
Owner occupied	44	69	30	71	67	75	81	60	64
Social rented	35	13	47	17	22	15	14	33	23
Private rented	20	16	21	11	10	9	3	4	11
Other	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	2,360	2,371	766	1,838	863	1,386	2,438	2,336	14,358

The patterns highlighted above reflect to some extent differences in access to resources. Young adults in the early stages of their working lives are more likely to move around more often, whilst single parents and pensioners may likely be more static in their housing usage.

There is a strong geographic component to the changing profile of the social housing sector and a link with deprivation. The 15% most deprived areas^[39] are characterised by high concentrations of social housing (Table 3.3), with over half (56%) of households in the social rented sector; compared to 23% overall - both of which are a slight increase on the 2009/2010 estimates of 54% and 22% respectively. More generally, there is a consistent and marked linear relationship between levels of social sector renting and deprivation.^[40]

Table 3.3: Tenure of household by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Column percentages, 2011 data

Households	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Owner occupied	35	69	64
Social rented	56	17	23
Private rented	8	12	11
Other	1	2	2
Total	100	100	100
Base	2,068	12,277	14,345

Tenure also varies between urban and rural areas, although this is somewhat less marked (Table 3.4). Levels of owner-occupation are higher in rural areas and accessible small towns, the former due to the relatively small social rented sector in rural areas, while the latter reflects in part urban workers moving out of high pressure housing markets to more affordable areas. Private renting is somewhat more common in large urban areas (15%, compared to 11% overall).

Table 3.4: Tenure of household by Urban Rural Classification

Column percentages, 2011 data

Households	Large urban areas	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Scotland
Owner occupied	58	66	70	64	72	71	64
Social rented	27	24	22	26	13	14	23
Private rented	15	9	7	8	11	11	11
Other	1	1	1	1	3	3	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	5,166	4,318	1,231	775	1,550	1,316	14,356

Table 3.5 shows that those adults who have lived at their current address for less than one year are typically those from the private rented sector (49%). Those living within the social rented sector show comparatively similar levels up to 10 years living at their current address (around one in four), though this then drops off somewhat to 17% for those living there for more than 10 years. As expected, those in owner occupied households are more likely to live at the same address for much longer; around two-thirds of those living at their current address for between three and ten years are in owner occupied households, increasing to 80% for those residing at the same address for more than 10 years.

Table 3.5: Tenure of household by how long lived at current address

Column percentages, 2011 data

Adults	Less than one year	1 to 2 years	3 to 4 years	5 to 10 years	More than 10 years	All
Owner occupied	28	42	63	71	80	67
Social rented	22	25	24	23	17	20
Private rented	49	30	12	5	1	11
Other	2	2	1	1	1	1
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,149	1,294	1,439	2,842	6,169	12,893