Scottish house condition survey: 2017 key findings

5 Energy Perceptions

• Nearly a fifth of households find that their heating keeps them warm in winter only sometimes (14%) or never (4%). This is similar to 2016 rates.
• 5% of all households report that their homes were difficult to heat because they cannot afford to heat them, which is similar to the level in 2016.
• Fuel poor households are more likely to have difficulties staying warm in winter and to report affordability problems; 22% of fuel poor say that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” (15%) or “never” (6%), compared to 18% of all other households. This pattern and overall rate is similar to 2016. 7% of fuel poor households report that they cannot afford to heat their home, higher than the 4% of non-fuel poor households.
• The extent to which home energy use is monitored by householders remains unchanged since last year with 54% stating they monitor their energy use “very” or “fairly closely”.
• 18% of households report owning an energy monitoring device – an 8 percentage point increase on the previous year. Fuel poor households are no more likely to monitor their energy use than other households but they are less likely to own a monitoring device (14% compared to 20% for non-fuel poor households).

5.1 Heating Satisfaction

193. Respondents’ views on their ability to keep warm in the winter and why this may be difficult is a useful context for understanding statistics on fuel poverty and energy efficiency in the home.

194. In 2017, 79% of householders reported that they were always able to stay warm at home during the winter (Figure 25), 14% said that their heating keeps them warm only sometimes, and 4% report that their heating systems never keep them warm in winter. These are similar levels to 2016.

195. Of those reporting that their heating system keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”, 22% report this to be “a serious problem”, 52% “a bit of a problem”, while 26% said it was “not very much” or “not a problem”. This distribution is similar to the results from the 2016 survey.

196. As shown in Figure 25 this means that, of all households, 4% reported their heating not keeping them warm in winter, and this to be “a serious problem”, while 10% said it was “a bit of a problem”, both which are at similar levels to 2016.

Figure 25: Staying Warm in Winter, 2017

Figure 26: “Does Your Heating Keep You Warm Enough in the Winter?” by Household Type, Tenure and Primary Heating Fuel; SHCS 2017

Note: Dashed lines represent the Scotland levels shown in Figure 23.

197. Figure 26 shows respondents’ views on how well their heating systems keep them warm in winter vary depending on household (HH) type, tenure and the primary heating fuel they use.

198. Older households are less likely than Other household types to report that their heating system doesn’t always keep them warm in the winter; 16%, compared 20% of Other households.

199. Householders with electric heating have high propensity to report that their heating systems does not keep them warm in the winter (32%).

200. Social and private renters also have increased likelihood to report that their heating does not always keep them warm compared to owner occupiers. For social sector tenants this is in contrast to the relatively better energy efficiency of the dwellings they occupy compared to the housing stock overall (as shown in Table 19).

201. Figure 27 shows how the proportion of householders reporting that their heating does not always keep them warm has changed over time, allowing for the margin of error. However, following the significant decrease in 2016, there was not a significant change in the proportion in 2017.

Figure 27: “Does Your Heating Keep You Warm Enough in the Winter?”, Proportion ‘Sometimes’ or ‘Never Warm’, 2004-2017

202. The reasons why people find their homes difficult to heat are shown in Figure 28 and Table 39. The most common reasons relate to poor energy performance of the dwellings: poor heating systems and draughts (14% and 12% respectively) followed by insulation and windows (7% each). About 5% of all surveyed householders consider it unaffordable to achieve the indoor temperatures they want. This is higher among private and social renters (9% each) compared to owner occupiers (2%). On the whole private rented and social sector tenants are more likely than owner occupiers to report difficulties. 68% of all interviewed households did not report any problems heating their homes.

Figure 28: Reasons Heating Home is Difficult by Tenure, 2017 (% of households)

Note: responses have been grouped by theme, as described in section 7.9.5. More than one answer allowed so that the sum of responses can exceed 100%.

Table 39: Reasons Heating Home is Difficult by Tenure, 2017 (% of households)

	Owner occupied	Private rented	Social sector	All Tenures
None reported	73%	59%	63%	68%
Poor or inadequate heating	11%	20%	18%	14%
Draughty	9%	15%	17%	12%
Poor insulation	7%	7%	7%	7%
Need new windows	5%	14%	8%	7%
Can’t afford to heat house	2%	9%	9%	5%
Hard to control heating	3%	4%	5%	4%
Rooms too big	2%	*	*	1%
Other	0%	*	0%	0%
Sample size	1,901	373	728	3,002

Note: Respondents are permitted to select more than one response. For this reason the sum down a column can exceed 100%

203. Table 40 shows how fuel poor and non-fuel poor households compare in their views on winter heating and heating affordability. Fuel poor households are more likely to report that their heating keeps them warm in winter “only sometimes” or “never”, 22% compared to 18% of non-fuel poor households. For 17% of fuel poor households this is “a serious” or “a bit of a problem”, higher than 13% for households who are not fuel poor.

Table 40: Staying Warm and Fuel Poverty, 2017 (% of households)

During the winter months, do you generally find that your heating keeps you warm enough at home, or not?	Not Fuel Poor		Fuel Poor
Yes, always	80%		77%
Only some of the time	14%		15%
No, never	4%		6%
Don't know	2%		2%
How much of a problem is this, if at all, to you?
A serious problem	4%		6%
A bit of a problem	9%		11%
Affordability
Cannot afford to heat house	4%		7%
Sample size		2,126		813

204. Fuel poor households are also more likely to report affordability problems. When asked about the reasons why they find it difficult to keep their home warm, 7% of fuel poor households say “cannot afford to heat my home”, which is similar to the 2016 level. The proportion of non-fuel poor households who give this answer is 4%.

5.2 Monitoring Energy Use

205. Since 2008 the SHCS has asked respondents to what extent they monitor their energy use and whether or not they have energy monitoring devices.

206. The proportion of households who do not monitor their energy use has fallen from 31% in 2008 to 22% in 2012 and remained around that level (20-22%) until 2017, which saw an increase to 24% (Table 41) from 20% in 2016.

207. However the proportion of those who report monitoring their energy use “fairly” or “very closely” followed a pattern of improvement. As shown in Table 41, the proportion increased from 44% in 2008 to 54% in 2012 and has remained around that level since (54-57%).

Table 41: Extent to which Energy Use is Monitored, 2008. 2010-2017 (% of households)

Extent Energy Use is Monitored…	Year
	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2008
Very closely	17%	18%	16%	16%	17%	16%	14%	12%	11%
Fairly closely	37%	38%	41%	37%	38%	38%	33%	33%	33%
Subtotal: Very or fairly closely	54%	56%	57%	54%	56%	54%	47%	45%	44%
Not very closely	21%	23%	22%	24%	24%	24%	22%	23%	24%
Not at all	24%	20%	22%	22%	20%	22%	30%	32%	31%
Don't know	1%	1%	0%	1%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Sample size	2,529	2,441	2,492	2,682	3,442	3,428	3,949	3,853	3,762

208. In 2016 18% of households had energy monitoring devices, as shown in Table 42. This is the second consecutive statistically significant year on year increase and represents an 85% increase in the proportion of households with an energy monitoring device compared to 2016.

Table 42: Households with Energy Use Monitoring Devices, 2008-2017

	% of households	Sample Size
2017	18%	2,529
2016	10%	2,441
2015	8%	2,492
2014	7%	2,682
2013	8%	3,442
2012	8%	3,428
2011	7%	3,949
2010	4%	3,853
2009	2%	4,153
2008	2%	3,762

209. Table 43 shows that fuel poor households are similar to others in the way they monitor their energy use: 54% report monitoring “very” or “fairly closely” compared to 56% of households who are not fuel poor. However they are less likely to have monitoring devices at home - 14% of fuel poor households compared to 20% of all other households – despite the overall increase in energy monitoring devices recorded by the survey.

Table 43: Monitoring Energy Use and Fuel Poverty, 2017 (% of households)

To what extent do you monitor your use of energy in your property?	Not Fuel Poor		Fuel Poor
Very closely	16%		18%
Fairly closely	37%		38%
Not very closely	23%		17%
Not at all	23%		26%
Don't know	*		*
Do you have an energy-use monitoring device in your home?
Yes	20%		14%
Sample Size		1,784		686