Scottish Household Survey 2025 findings: Neighbourhoods and Communities

Neighbourhood Problems

In 2025, 57% of adults had personally experienced ‘any’ neighbourhood problems in the past 12 months (Table 31), stable from 2023. [1] The neighbourhood problems that were most commonly experienced were ‘rubbish or litter lying around’ (36%) and ‘animal nuisance such as noise or dog fouling’ (30%). The least commonly experienced problems were ‘abandoned or burnt out vehicles’ (4%) and ‘groups or individuals harassing you’ (5%) (Table 31).

Since 2023, experiences of ‘rubbish or litter lying around’ have stayed stable and experiences of ‘animal nuisance’ have improved, from 35% to 30%. Experiences of all other neighbourhood problems have worsened slightly. In 2025, 16% experienced ‘rowdy behaviour e.g. drunkenness, hooliganism or loutish behaviour’, an increase from 10% in 2023. Nine percent experienced ‘neighbour disputes’, an increase from 5% in 2023 (Table 31).

Differences between places and sub-groups

There are differences across geographic locations and subgroups of the population. Figure 6 shows the population sub-groups with the highest and lowest percentages who have personally experienced neighbourhood problems. Those living in the 20% most deprived areas were more likely to say they had experienced ‘any’ neighbourhood problems in the past 12 months than those in the least deprived (70%, compared with 50%) (Table 31).

Sixty-three percent of adults who socially rent report experiencing ‘any’ problems in their neighborhoods, compared with 55% of owner occupiers (Table 32). Forty percent of adults living in remote rural areas had experienced ‘any’ neighbourhood problems, compared to 62% of those living in large urban areas (Table 33).

Figure 6 Neighbourhood problems are more common for some groups and in some places

Percentage of adults who have personally experienced 'any' neighbourhood problem in the past 12 months, by the highest and lowest % for different sub-groups, 2025, Scotland. [2]

Another Scottish Government population survey, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), also collects information on perceptions of a range of neighbourhood issues, including feeling of safety, how common specific crimes are believed to be in the local area, alongside respondents’ views on neighbourhood cohesion and community support. As questions are asked in a different survey context, any similar measures should not be directly compared to Scottish Household Survey findings.