The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Social Focus on Disability 2004

chapter two: Households and Housing

The Thematic Regulation Study: Equalities in Practice published by Communities Scotland in January 2003 states that 'research shows unfair discrimination and disadvantage on the grounds of race and disability in the development, letting and management of social housing... This evidence of unfairness and inequality has led the Government and regulators to focus on the need for organisations receiving public investment and subject to statutory regulation to establish robust systems...' Following the Thematic Regulation Study, Communities Scotland have continued to carry out inspections as part of the overall regulatory framework. Action to improve performance is agreed on a case-to-case basis with individual providers.

The need to explicitly address equalities issues in housing (as well as in all other aspects of public policy) is highlighted in the Scottish Executive's Making Progress: Annual Equality Report which describes current work that is underway on mainstreaming equality within housing. The housing work began in September 2000 during the final stages of the consultation on the Housing Bill with officials in Housing and the Equality Unit working closely with external equality bodies and organisations. Equality bodies contributed actively and the legislation incorporated a number of specific references to disability. Work is continuing within the Housing Department to build on the lessons learnt during this work and to ensure that consideration of equalities issues are a mainstream consideration in any policy development.

This chapter examines the family and housing circumstances and needs of the disabled population, using information from the Census, the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) and the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS). The results show that:

• Households with no disabled or long-term ill members are much more likely to own their house outright or be buying it with the help of a mortgage than households with disabled or long-term ill members.
• Households with disabled and long-term ill members are more likely to be renting their home. For those households who rent, disabled/long-term ill households are more likely to be renting from a social landlord than non-disabled households.
• The profile of household types is different for households who have disabled or long-term ill members than those households without. Not surprisingly, given the age profile highlighted in Chapter One, there are a much higher proportion of older couple households and single pensioner households within the disabled/long-term ill group than for the non-disabled group.
• There are no significant differences between disabled and non-disabled households in terms of overcrowded accommodation.

Households with disabled members

The 2001 Census shows that there are just under 2.2 million households living in Scotland, of which 37 per cent (800,000 households) contain at least one resident with a limiting long-term illness, health problem or disability.

Table 2.1 shows figures from the SHS which estimates that 30 per cent of households in Scotland contain at least one member with a disability or a long-term illness.

Household type

The SHS classifies households into eight different types depending on the size of the household, the age of people within the household and relationships between members of the household. Definitions of the different household types can be found in Appendix 1.

As shown in Table 2.2, households with at least one member with a disability or a long-term illness are more likely to be older smaller ⁴ or single pensioner ⁵ households. Chapter One highlighted that the disabled population has an older age profile compared to the non-disabled population therefore it is not surprising that there is a higher proportion of disabled households falling into the older smaller or single pensioner category.

Households with children ⁶

The proportion of households with children varies significantly depending on whether or not the household has any disabled members or members with a long-term illness.

Only 16 per cent of households with one or more members with a disability and 18 per cent of households with one or more members with a long-term illness have children. This compares with more than 30 per cent of non-disabled households. However as Table 2.2 showed nearly half of households with one or more persons with a disability are made up of single pensioners or older smaller households (48 per cent). Both these household types do not contain any children and will consist of at least one member of pensionable age, thus it is not surprising that there are a lower proportion of disabled households with children. Chart 2.1 shows the number of children in each of the different types of households.

Very few households in Scotland have three or more children. Only 3 per cent of disabled households and 4 per cent of non-disabled households have three or more children.

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Housing

Table 2.4 shows that 64 per cent of Scottish households live in a house or bungalow compared to 36 per cent who live in a flat or maisonette. For disabled households, these figures change to 60 per cent living in a house/bungalow and 39 per cent living in a flat/maisonette. Table 2.5 shows the proportion of these flats/maisonettes by lowest floor level.

Over 50 per cent of disabled households live in a flat or maisonette located on the ground floor or street level. However it should be noted that no information is provided in the SHS as to whether those households living on a higher floor have access via a lift. Information on floor level is only relevant if one assumes that the disability or long-term illness is related to mobility. However, this will not always be the case.

Overcrowding

Using characteristics of the household it is possible to estimate the extent to which dwellings are overcrowded or under-occupied. A bedroom standard is calculated for each household by taking into account the number of people in the household, their ages and their relationships. This standard is then compared with the actual number of bedrooms in the home to indicate whether or not there are any deficiencies or excess in the number of bedrooms.

The results on bedroom standard, as shown in Chart 2.2, are broadly similar between disabled households and non-disabled households. Sixty-two per cent of disabled households have one or more bedrooms than the standard would suggest were needed. The comparable figure for households with no disabled members is 65 per cent.

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Housing tenure

The tenure breakdown of households is shown in Table 2.6:

Table 4-3 of the SHS Annual Report 2001/2002 shows that household tenure varies considerably depending on the type of the household. Older smaller and single pensioner households are significantly more likely to own their home outright and less likely to be buying their home with the help of a mortgage or loan. The results of Table 2.2 also show that households with a disabled member are more likely to consist of older smaller or single pensioner households.

Overall 26 per cent of Scottish households own their home outright. There are no significant differences between disabled households (26 per cent) and non-disabled households (25 per cent) in terms of home ownership rates. This is not surprising given that disabled households consist of more older smaller and single pensioners and these groups are more likely to own their home outright.

Significant differences exist in terms of those households buying with the help of a mortgage or a loan. Only 21 per cent of disabled households have a mortgage compared to 45 per cent of non-disabled households. Once again, this can be explained given the profile of disabled households. Chapter Seven (Income and Benefits) also shows that disabled households are more likely to be living on an income of less than 10,000 and thus may also partly explain why disabled households are less likely to have a mortgage.

Table 2.6 also shows that disabled households are significantly more likely to rent their home compared to non-disabled households. The tenure breakdown for those renting is shown in Table 2.7.

Renting from local authorities is most common across all household categories. A significantly higher proportion of disabled households rent from the local authority (73 per cent), compared to non-disabled households (60 per cent). There are also differences in terms of those renting privately. For disabled households, the private rented sector makes up only 6 per cent of the market whereas 20 per cent of non-disabled households rent privately.

In Scotland, 22 per cent of adults have lived in their current residence for 21 years or more. There are significant differences between disabled adults and adults without a disability in terms of how long they have stayed at their current home. Thirty-three per cent of disabled adults have lived in their home for more than 20 years, while only 20 per cent of adults without a disability or long-term illness have lived in their current residence for that length of time. Part of the reason for this difference is due to the older age profile of the disabled/long-term ill population. Table 4-10 in the SHS Annual Report 2001/2002 shows that 47 per cent of people aged between 60 and 74 years and 51 per cent of people aged 75 plus have been in their current home for more than 20 years and this will be reflected in the length of time that disabled adults and adults with a long-term illness have lived in their home.

Condition of housing

Information on the physical condition of Scotland's homes can be found from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS). The survey covers all types of housing - owned or rented, flats and houses, in urban, rural and island locations across the whole country.

The highest proportion of Scotland's housing stock was built between 1965 and 1997 (37 per cent). However Table 2.9 shows that households where at least one member has a disability and/or long-term illness are most likely to live in older dwellings built between 1919 and 1964; 43 per cent of these dwellings are inhabited by households where at least one occupant has a disability or long-term illness.

A key factor when reviewing the condition of Scotland's homes is the level of dampness and condensation within the dwelling. Dampness is included as one of the criteria when determining whether a dwelling meets the Tolerable Standard. This is the minimum standard of condition required by Scottish Law, and stipulates that a dwelling must be "substantially free" from both rising and penetrating dampness to be considered habitable. According to surveyors there are 6 per cent of dwellings in Scotland affected by some form of dampness.

Tables 2.10 and 2.11 provide estimates of the overall prevalence of dampness and condensation, as assessed by a surveyor and the householder. It should be noted that the assessments take place on a different basis, which is likely to have an impact on the estimates. The surveyor is measuring the extent of the problem, whereas the householder is focusing on the impact of the problem. The two different assessments should not be compared directly. However within each measure, comparisons can be made between households with disabled family members and those without.

The SHCS has shown that when the assessments of surveyors and house-holders are compared, surveyors are more likely to report that there is dampness and/or condensation in a dwelling than householders are to report the existence of associated problems. However, when householders do state there is a problem, their assessments tend to indicate that it is more serious than the surveyors' judgements do.

Special needs housing

Table 2.12 provides information on the number of special needs housing for disabled people, or amenity housing as it is sometimes called. This type of housing is for people with all types of disabilities, not just physical disabilities. However, the majority of people living in special needs housing will be physically disabled.

The total stock of special needs housing peaked at 1995. Since then there has been an overall decrease, however numbers are increasing again. Chart 2.3 illustrates how the make-up of special needs housing has changed over the period. The data is shown as a proportion of the total stock of special needs housing.

Source: SE Development Department, Housing Statistics Branch - SIB Return

The proportion of wheelchair accessible housing has remained relatively steady over the period 1980 to 2002. However, both the proportion of ambulant disabled and other specially adapted housing has fluctuated significantly. Please note these large fluctuations may not be due to any substantive change in the profile of special needs housing, but more to do with changing definitions over the years.

Information on the special aids and adaptations that disabled adults and those with a long-term illness need can be found in Chapter Six (Health and Care).

Homelessness

The SHS collects information on whether or not adults have ever experienced home-lessness. The latest information (2001/2002) shows that 5 per cent of disabled adults have at some point lost their home and had no alternative accommodation to go to. This compares to 3 per cent of adults overall experiencing some form of homelessness.

Homelessness applications are assessed in terms of priority needs. Such needs can include households with dependent children, households where someone is pregnant, households fleeing domestic abuse, households with vulnerable members and other similar categories. In 2002/2003, a small percentage of homelessness applications were assessed as priority ⁷ due to households having someone with a disability, and thus being considered vulnerable.

• 1.85 per cent of all homelessness applications were assessed as a priority due to a household member having a learning disability.
• 0.94 per cent of all homelessness applications were assessed as a priority due to a household member having a physical disability.

References

Making Progress: Equality Annual Report
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/mper-00.asp

Scottish Household Survey
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/SR/CRU-SocInc/00016002/SHShome.aspx

Scotland's People Volume 7: Results from the 2001/2002 Scottish Household Survey
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/spv7-00.asp

Scottish House Condition Survey
http://www.shcs.gov.uk/

Thematic Regulation Study, Equalities in Practice, 2002
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/web/FILES/equalities.pdf

Contacts

Telephone contact points for information relating to Chapter 2, Households and Housing:

Scottish Executive

« Previous | Contents | Next »