Scottish Household Survey 2025 findings: Neighbourhoods and Communities

Summary

In 2025, neighbourhood ratings remain high, and there has been a slight increase since 2024 in the percentage of adults who rate their neighbourhood as a ‘very good’ place to live.

Adults continued to feel more positively about the people-based features of their neighbourhoods, such as trust, kindness and being able to rely on neighbours, and less positively about the physical aspects of them, such as the availability of places to meet and socialise.

Since 2024 the majority of these measures have remained stable. There has been a fall in agreement that there are welcoming places and opportunities to meet new people. 

Perceptions of safety in neighbourhoods have increased slightly since 2024. Experiences of ‘any’ neighbourhood problems have remained stable since 2023. 

Loneliness has remained stable since 2024. There has been a decline since 2024 in the percentage of adults who meet socially at least once a week, to 65%. Over the longer term this has fallen from 73% in 2018, and appears to follow a longer term change in how frequently people are choosing to meet others socially.

There remain ongoing inequalities for different subgroups of the population, and people living in different places, such as urban or rural settings, for disabled people, and by area deprivation.