This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Continuous Scottish House Condition Survey report
31/03/2006
The first annual report from the Continuous Scottish House Condition Survey (CSHCS) is published today.
The CSHCS is a comprehensive national housing survey commissioned by Communities Scotland, the Executive's housing and regeneration agency, and this is the first time there has been annual report.
The survey was previously conducted every five years and the last report was based on data collected in 2002. Since then the survey has moved to a format of continuous fieldwork and key estimates will be available annually.
The new survey, which covers the period 2003/04, profiles the Scottish housing stock and households and contains updated key information on the estimates of the number of households in fuel poverty, energy efficiency estimates and the progress rates for meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, a standard by which all social housing must comply by 2015.
The main findings are:
- The energy efficiency of the Scottish housing stock is improving. Fewer dwellings have 'poor' energy ratings and more have 'good' ratings. The proportion of dwellings rated 'good' has risen 9% since the 2002 survey.
- Following a substantial fall between 1996 and 2002, the number of fuel poor households has risen slightly from 13% to 14.5%.
- The number of dwellings currently not meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard remains unchanged at 70%
- Very few dwellings in Scotland suffer from either rising or penetrating damp (approx 5%) whilst around 11% have condensation in any room. These figures are largely unchanged from those reported in 2002.
Fieldwork for the survey is carried out by the Office for National Statistics and Miller Mitchell Burley Lane on behalf of Communities Scotland. A sample of around 4000 households in Scotland are interviewed each year.
The 2003/4 estimates are based on a smaller sample size that those produced in 2002 and therefore have a wider margin of error. However, as the SHCS is a continuous survey the reliability of the data will increase as the sample size increases. The 2003 -04 figure should be seen as an indicator only and data of comparable robustness to the 2002 SHCS will be available in 2007.
The full statistical publication can be accessed on-line at: http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk
A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, it would be required to spend more that 10% of its income on all household fuel use.