Scotland's People Annual Report: Results from 2012 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.^[34] While the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS)^[35] 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 (63% of all households), the notable exception being for single parent households (where 45% are in social rented housing) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, single adult households (33% in the social rented sector).
• The private rented sector has shown small but consistent signs of growth from 5% in 1999 to 13% in 2012, associated with a decline in the social rented sector from the turn of the Century though more notably a dip in owner occupation recently from a high of 66% up to 2009 decreasing to 63% in 2012.
• The 15% most deprived areas in Scotland are characterised by high concentrations of social housing, with over half (55%) of households in the social rented sector; compared to 17% in the rest of Scotland.
• Just over half (51%) 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 (81% of households who have lived at their current address for more than 10 years are owner occupied).

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^[36] to close to two thirds in recent years (63% in 2012) (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 2012, 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 13% in 2012, this has been mirrored through a decline in the social rented sector (32% to 23%) though more notably in the owner occupied housing (from a high of 66% in 2009 to 63% in 2012).

Table 3.1: Tenure of household by year

Column percentages, 1999-2012 data

Households	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Owner occupied	61	62	64	65	65	64	66	65	66	66	66	65	64	63
Social rented	32	30	28	28	26	27	25	25	23	23	22	23	23	23
Private rented	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13
Other	2	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	100
Base	14,680	15,550	15,570	15,070	14,880	15,940	15,400	15,620	13,410	13,810	14,190	14,210	14,360	10,640

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).^[37]

Owner occupation is the predominant tenure for most household types, the notable exception being for single parent households and, to a somewhat lesser extent, single adult households. Almost half of single parent households are in social housing (45%), 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 (33% and 29% respectively). Those in the private rented sector are more likely to be single parent, single adult and small adult (between 20% and 25% for each household type) compared to other household types.

Table 3.2: Tenure of household by household type

Column percentages, 2012 data

Households	Single adult	Small adult	Single parent	Small family	Large family	Large adult	Older smaller	Single pensioner	All
Owner occupied	41	64	28	69	70	76	82	64	63
Social rented	33	15	45	16	21	16	14	29	23
Private rented	23	20	25	14	9	8	3	4	13
Other	3	1	3	1	0	1	1	2	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,880	1,730	610	1,240	610	960	1,810	1,810	10,640

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^[38] are characterised by high concentrations of social housing (Table 3.3), with over half (55%) of households in the social rented sector; compared to 23% overall. More generally, there is a consistent and marked linear relationship between levels of social sector renting and deprivation, which is evident when looking at the differences between SIMD deciles.

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

Column percentages, 2012 data

	< 10% most deprived							10% least deprived >
Households	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Owner occupied	29	45	51	60	64	68	71	80	81	84
Social rented	59	42	31	25	21	16	14	6	5	1
Private rented	9	12	16	14	13	15	13	12	14	14
Other	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	1
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,030	1,000	1,040	1,170	1,140	1,150	1,180	1,110	940	900

Households	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Owner occupied	33	68	63
Social rented	55	17	23
Private rented	10	14	13
Other	2	2	2
Total	100	100	100
Base	1,510	9,130	10,640

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 (16%, compared to 13% overall).

Table 3.4: Tenure of household by Urban Rural Classification

Column percentages, 2012 data

Households	Large urban areas	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Scotland
Owner occupied	57	63	68	58	71	73	63
Social rented	25	24	20	28	15	15	23
Private rented	16	12	10	12	12	9	13
Other	2	1	2	1	2	3	2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	3,520	3,230	960	620	1,150	1,160	10,640

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 (51%). As expected, those in owner occupied households are more likely to live at the same address for much longer; over four-in-five households of those residing at the same address for more than 10 years are owner occupied (81%). Those living within the social rented sector show a peak of residence at between 3 to 4 years (27%) before dropping back down.

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

Column percentages, 2012 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	39	54	71	81	66
Social rented	19	25	27	23	16	20
Private rented	51	34	17	5	2	13
Other	2	2	1	1	1	1
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	990	1,080	940	2,150	4,740	9,890