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4. Where we live
Introduction
This chapter looks at the housing circumstances and neighbourhood issues experienced by Scottish households. It examines housing tenure, the types of properties in which people live and the extent to which households have moved home. Households' views were also sought on their neighbourhood with regard to their likes and dislikes, their perceptions and experience of anti-social behaviour and fear of crime. They were also asked about their perceptions of safety when travelling in their area in the evening.
Please refer to Chapter 2 for more information about interpreting the information in the tables in this section.
Housing
Figure 4.1 shows the tenure breakdown of Scotland's housing. Owner-occupation - either owned outright or buying with a mortgage - accounts for two-thirds (66%) of tenure, while 25% of households rent from a social landlord and 7% rent from a private landlord. Household in the most deprived areas are most likely to be renting their homes (60%) ( Table 4.6). Just over a third (34%) of all households live in flats, with these properties featuring more strongly in large urban areas than in other areas. Household in the most deprived areas were most likely to live in flats (58%) ( Table 4.11).
Overall, 9% of adults have lived in their current residence for less than a year, while 12% have been resident for 31 years or more (Table 4.14). Turnover is particularly high in the private rented sector where 43% have been in their current property for less than one year.
Using characteristics of the household such as the relationships between adults, the ages of children and the total number of adults and children, it is possible to estimate the extent to which dwellings are over-crowded or under-occupied. Using this approach, only 3% of households have fewer rooms than they require. Indeed, it is the norm for households to have at least one more bedroom than they require and around two-thirds (67%) are in this position ( Table 4.16).
Neighbourhoods
Adults' assessments of their neighbourhoods are overwhelmingly positive, with 93% saying their local area is either a 'very good' or 'fairly good' place to live but, as ( Table 4.23) shows, there is considerable variation between SIMD10 quintiles especially in the proportion saying their area is 'very good'. For example, 73% of those in the least deprived SIMD quintile rate their neighbourhood as 'very good' while 25% of those in the most deprived SIMD quintile give their neighbourhood the same rating.
Households in remote small towns, accessible rural and remote rural areas are the most likely say their local area is either a 'very good' or 'fairly good' place to live. Compared with 90% of households in large urban areas, 98% of households in remote rural areas say their area is 'very good' or 'fairly good' ( Table 4.22).
The most common spontaneously mentioned 'likes' about the neighbourhood are that the area is 'quiet and peaceful' (57%), has good neighbours (37%), that it is convenient for shopping (34%) and has 'friendly people' (30%) ( Table 4.25).
Mention of the area being quiet and peaceful decreases with deprivation levels; 36% mention this in the most deprived SIMD quintile compared with 67% in the least deprived SIMD quintile. In contrast, those in the most and least deprived quintiles were as likely to mention good neighbours (37% and 36% in respectively) ( Table 4.27).
Just under half of all adults say there is nothing they dislike about their neighbourhood. The main 'dislikes' mentioned spontaneously are 'young people hanging around/nothing for young people to do' (16%) and 'vandalism and graffiti' (8%) ( Table 4.28). Both of these 'dislikes' are more often mentioned by adults in the most deprived SIMD quintiles; 26% disliked the former and 16% the latter. 'Drug abuse and dealing' is also mentioned in the most deprived SIMD quintile by 15% of adults compared with 6% of adults overall ( Table 4.30).
Anti-social behaviour and fear of crime
Adults perceived the most prevalent neighbourhood problem, chosen from a list of 7, was 'rubbish or litter lying around'; 27% said this was very or fairly common. 16% of adults perceived 'vandalism/graffiti/damage to property' and 16% perceived 'rowdy behaviour' to be very or fairly common ( Table 4.33) Perceptions that each of the neighbourhood problems listed were very or fairly common increased with deprivation and degree of urbanisation, and decreased as age increased.
Fewer adults have personal experience of each of the 7 neighbourhood problems than perceive they are very or fairly common. The problems they most commonly experience is rubbish or litter lying around (19%); rowdy behaviour (14%) and vandalism/graffiti/damage to property (11%). Two-thirds of adults (66%) have not experienced any of the neighbourhood problems ( Table 4.38).
Proportionately fewer older people experience at least one of the problems compared with younger people; for example 16% of those aged 75 or older experience neighbourhood problems in the last 12 months compared with 42% of 16-24 year olds ( Table 4.42). Experience of any of the problems is proportionately higher in large urban areas (39%) in comparison with those in remote rural areas (16%) ( Table 4.40).
The percentage of people reporting a neighbourhood problem they have experienced varies according to the actual problem. The least reported is 'rubbish or litter lying around'; one in five adults (20%) say they report this. 46% report vandalism/graffiti/damage to property, the most of any of the 7 neighbourhood problems ( Table 4.43) 11.
Four in ten of the adult population (39%), are very or fairly satisfied with what local agencies are doing to tackle anti-social behaviour ( Table 4.44). A further two in ten adults (20%) are very or fairly dissatisfied with their response; the remaining adults (40%) are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, or expressed no opinion.
Almost a quarter (24%) of adults in large urban areas say that fear of crime has no effect on their quality of life, compared with 59% of those in remote rural areas ( Table 4.75). The proportion of adults saying that fear of crime has no impact on their lives increases as age increases and the proportion of adults saying fear of crime has an effect on their lives increases with level of deprivation. Fewer adult females than males say that fear of crime has no effect on their lives (28% and 35% respectively) ( Table 4.78).
2% of adult males and 2% of adult females have been a victim of any type of physical assault in their neighbourhood ( Table 4.79).
Local transport and personal safety
Table 4.59 and Table 4.65 show the extent to which adults use buses or trains in the evening. Overall, 77% of adults never use buses in the evening and 83% never travel by train in the evening.
When asked about their perceptions of how safe it is or would be to travel by bus or train in the evening over 80% of adults who used public transport in the evening do think it is safe ( Table 4.60 and Table 4.66).
Just under three quarters (73%) of adults think it is safe to walk alone in their neighbourhood after dark ( Table 4.62). Virtually all adults perceive they are very or fairly safe when at home alone at night (97%) ( Table 4.68).
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