Supporting Scotland's Transition - Land Use and Agriculture: Technical Supporting Document

1.5 Communities and place

Transport

There is higher reliance on driving as a means of transport in rural areas, and drive times to key services including GPs, primary and secondary schools, and shops are longer. In remote rural areas, 63% people live within a 15 minute drive time to a secondary school, compared to 91% of people in accessible rural areas and 100% of people in the rest of Scotland.^[100] Fewer than half of people living in accessible rural (47%) and remote rural (40%) areas of Scotland live within a 15 minute drive time to a GP by public transport; this compares to 92% in the rest of Scotland.^[101]

Transport costs are also higher in rural and island areas, particularly for working-age households and pensioners.^[102] Residents in rural areas are more likely than those elsewhere to spend over £100 per month on fuel for their cars.^[103] Indeed, ‘transport poverty’ (the lack of transport options that are available, reliable, affordable, accessible or safe that allow people to meet their daily needs and achieve a reasonable quality of life) is also a related issue, which in 2016 Sustrans found to impact upon 1 million Scottish residents^[104], predominantly those in accessible small towns and accessible rural areas.

Adults in rural areas are more likely to drive to their place of work or education, and less likely to take public transport, than those living in the rest of Scotland.^[105]

There is large variation between island groups with respect to the accessibility of island transport, with patterns of use dictated by island location and infrastructure. For example, residents of Shetland and Orkney Outer Isles make greatest use of inter-island ferries, while residents of Mainland Shetland and Mainland Orkney make most use of flights to and from mainland Scotland. Interestingly, different patterns of transport use are notable between different age groups, with older people making greater use of local buses and mainland ferries, younger people flying to and from the mainland more often, and middle-aged residents (aged 36 to 50) making more use of inter-island ferries.^[106]

Roads

The number of registered private cars was highest per head of population in mainly rural local authorities in 2021 at an average of 0.50 cars per person. Journey times in rural areas are longer, with 19% of journeys in remote rural areas being 20km or over.

Public transport

The proportion of people within a 15-minute drive time to key services by public transport are much lower in rural areas compared to the rest of Scotland. The figures are particularly low in rural areas with respect to drive time to the nearest shopping centre, where only 22% of people in accessible rural areas live within a 15-minute trip via public transport. The proportion is slightly higher at 29% in remote rural areas.^[107]

Satisfaction with public transport is lower in rural areas. Adults living in remote rural (44%) and accessible rural (53%) areas are much less satisfied with the quality of public transport than those in large urban areas (78%).^[108] Young people living in rural areas and islands face barriers to bus use including timetables, frequency of buses, limited route options, and a lack of bus stops nearby.^[109]

Less than half of islanders agree that the local bus service runs when they need it and that fares are good value for locals and visitors. 52% say the service is reliable and that they can easily find out about routes and times.^[110]

However, on the islands the percentage of respondents who say it is easy to access essential services using public transport has decreased, from 69% in 2020 to 47% in 2023.^[111]

Ferries

People living in Scotland’s island communities are particularly reliant on ferries to and from the mainland, but levels of satisfaction with these services are relatively low. In a 2020 survey, just over half (58%) of island residents agreed that the mainland ferry service is reliable and 64% that there is usually space when they need it. Less than half (42%) agreed that ferry fares to and from the mainland are good value for locals.^[112]

Active travel

A quarter of island residents agree that their local roads and paths are safe for cycling, and safe and accessible for wheelchairs and prams.^[113]

Food processing

With the closure of abattoir facilities in rural areas in Scotland such as Orkney, Elgin and Dunblane, many animals are now having to travel further to be slaughtered and returned for processing in local businesses (butchers) than before. There are concerns that this is leading to increased stress to animals, greater environmental impacts and decreased profitability for farmers. These closures could have impacts, particularly for producer-retailers wanting to sell locally reared meat to the local market.^[114]

Timber processing

In the UK, a total of 141 sawmills processed UK roundwood in 2021. Over the past ten years, the number of active sawmills has decreased by 20%; in Scotland the decrease was 23%, down to 46 from 60 in 2012. Most of this change has occurred in the smallest size categories of sawmill.^[115]

Digital connectivity

Almost all homes in Scotland can access the internet and the quality of broadband continues to improve. However, in rural Scotland^[116] coverage from superfast or newer higher-speed services is consistently lower. (In 2024, superfast broadband coverage was 83% in rural areas compared to 99% in urban areas, and gigabit-capable coverage was only 43% in rural areas compared to 85% in urban areas).^[117] Ofcom estimate that 16,000 premises in Scotland, (residential and commercial), still do not have access to a ‘decent’ broadband service with speeds above 10mb/s via either a fixed or wireless network.

Although the 5G mobile network is expanding across the UK, 4G continues to underpin the mobile experience for consumers both inside and outside premises in Scotland. Whilst there have been commendable improvements in recent years, Scotland has the lowest geographic 4G network coverage of any UK nation with 65% of its landmass served by all network operators, (compared to 80% for the UK). For geographic voice coverage across Scotland, from all four operators, the figure is 69%. In-vehicle coverage on major roads by at least one operator is 98% for 4G and 99% for voice calls. However, across all operators it is 74% for 4G and 79% for voice calls.^[118]

4G coverage by all mobile network operators in rural areas is considerably lower than urban areas although coverage has increased since 2022. People in these rural areas have less service provider choice and risk having no signal away from built-up areas.^[119]

The adoption of most key digital technologies, such as mobile technologies and cloud computing, has increased in recent years. However, the digitisation of Scottish

businesses is relatively low on average and there is scope to increase further the adoption of many digital technologies to improve economic performance.^[120]

Rural housing

Access to affordable housing is a long-standing issue in some parts of rural Scotland and is often connected to other challenges impacting the rural economy, including workforce recruitment and retention in remote rural and island communities.^[121]

Remote rural areas have a significantly higher percentage of vacant dwellings (6%) and second homes (6%) than other areas of Scotland.^[122] This percentage can be particularly high in specific areas, such as the islands. For example, the Scottish Islands contain 2% of Scotland's total dwellings, but 17% of Scotland’s second homes.^[123]

Remote rural areas have the highest percentage of ‘large family’ households, while accessible rural areas have the highest percentage of ‘small family’ households. Rural Scotland as a whole has a higher percentage of ‘older smaller’ households, where one or both adults are of pensionable age.^[124]

Most islanders, (eight in ten respondents), are happy with their housing but say that affordable housing is not available in their area.^[125] In a 2020 survey, the majority (71%) agreed there is a high proportion of holiday lets or second homes in their local area. Less than a fifth (19%) agreed there is enough housing available to meet local demand. Over half (60%) disagreed.^[126]

A recent report by Scotland’s Rural College^[127] indicates that second home ownership is a driver of house price inflation in many rural areas, with over half (51%) of residential transactions in island and remote rural local authorities being cash sales, compared to 27% in larger cities.

House prices are rising across rural Scotland, particularly in accessible rural areas.^[128] In 2022-23, the average price of a residential property in rural areas was £271,436 compared to £202,588 in urban areas. Accessible rural areas are on average the most expensive area to purchase a property. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, residential property prices increased across all areas of Scotland. Remote small towns saw the largest rise in average residential property price with an increase of 13%.^[129]

Furthermore, between 2011-2021, the number of new build housing completions increased in mainly rural areas but decreased in remote rural and island areas. In 2021, there were over 8,500 new build housing completions in urban with substantial rural areas, compared to around 6,000 in mainly rural areas and less than 500 in islands & remote rural areas.^[130]

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation – Rural Deprivation evidence summary^[131] highlights that housing stock in many rural areas is regarded as ‘not fit for purpose’. This is mainly due to the lack of suitable affordable housing, modern housing and single occupancy homes. These problems have social and economic impacts on rural communities and the wider land use and agricultural sectors. For example:

• The lack of affordable housing means that young first-time buyers are priced out and have to leave the area. This out-migration of young working people increases the dependency ratio, (the number of people aged 65 or more per a hundred people aged 15-64).
• As low-income workers are unable to afford housing, small businesses and service providers which rely on a low-income workforce are unable to source staff.

The average energy efficiency profile of rural properties is lower than that for urban,

and dwelling characteristics associated with lower energy efficiency are disproportionately represented in rural areas.^[132] As a consequence, rural households are at risk of fuel poverty for reasons including:

• over half (65%) of rural dwellings are not within the coverage of the gas grid, and are therefore dependent on alternative fuel types that are more expensive;
• rural properties are on average 31% larger than urban dwellings and therefore cost more to heat; and
• 28% of dwellings in rural locations use oil as a primary heating source. In urban locations, oil is used in less than 1% of dwellings.

Fuel poverty rates continue to be higher in remote rural and island areas.^[133] From October 2023, it was estimated that there would be 150,000 fuel poor households in rural areas (a fuel poverty rate of 35%) and 680,000 in urban areas (a fuel poverty rate of 33%). From October to December 2023 it was estimated that 47% of island households would be in fuel poverty, compared to 33% of mainland households.