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| Investing in Modernisation - An Agenda for Scotland's Housing |
| Where We Are Now - The Pattern of Housing in Scotland Today | |
| 1.15 Having briefly surveyed the way in which housing tenure patterns have changed in the past, we now turn to the pattern that exists today. | |
| The Size and Condition of the Stock | |
| 1.16 The estimated housing stock at the end of 1996 was 2.25 million dwellings - a crude surplus of 110,000 dwellings (5% of the total) over the estimated number of households. The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey estimated that 83% of dwellings were in urban areas and 17% in rural areas. Over the last four years, total new building has averaged 22,000 per annum with the private sector building 17,000 to 18,500 houses per annum for owner-occupation, housing associations generally building between 2,500 and 3,000 mainly for social renting and the public sector building an average of around 750 new dwellings per annum for rent. Approximately 4,000 buildings have been demolished each year giving a net growth in the housing stock in the order of 18,000 dwellings (0.8%) per annum. | |
| 1.17 A significant proportion of the Scottish housing stock remains in a poor condition, although the nature of house condition problems has changed over the past 20 years. Lack of basic amenities is no longer a widespread problem. Today the major problems concern dampness and condensation and disrepair, especially in the public and private rented sectors. The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey provides comprehensive information about the condition of the stock and the costs of the repair bill. Some 21,000 occupied houses (approximately 1% of the stock) were assessed as being below the statutory tolerable standard (BTS) but 39% had one or more elements in urgent disrepair. Approximately 87% of BTS dwellings identified in the survey were in the private sector (disproportionately in the private rented sector) and over 70% were built before 1919. Although 70% of BTS dwellings were in urban areas, rural areas had a disproportionately large share of the total. | |
| 1.18 A quarter of all dwellings in Scotland were affected by dampness or condensation, although only 4% were found to have both and the degree of dampness and condensation varies greatly across the stock. The proportion of dwellings affected by dampness or condensation is highest in the local authority and private rented sectors. The energy efficiency of much of the stock is poor, although there are variations across Scotland. On average, rural dwellings, especially those built before 1919, are less energy efficient than urban dwellings. More than 90% of all dwellings do not meet the current building regulations regarding thermal energy efficiency and although 80% of dwellings do have some degree of loft insulation only 12% of these conform to the 1991 building regulation standard. This means that houses are expensive to heat, especially in more northerly and remote areas. However, a large number of households cannot afford to spend as much as they need to keep warm and it is clear that there is a significant problem of fuel poverty among Scotland's families. | |
| The Pattern of Tenure | |
| 1.19 As already noted, the pattern of tenure in Scotland has been transformed over the past 20 years (see Figure 1.2). Today, around 60% of households in Scotland live in owner-occupied properties, with ownership either on the strength of a mortgage, or outright. This is a radical shift from the position only 15-20 years ago, when more than half of the households in Scotland lived in dwellings rented from the public sector. Nevertheless, of all the countries or regions of the UK, Scotland still has the largest proportion of its stock (30%) owned by public sector landlords (local authorities and Scottish Homes). Moreover, this national average disguises local variations - in west central Scotland the level of public sector renting remains high whereas the level of owner-occupation in many parts of rural Scotland is above average. For example, in the crofting districts of the northern and western Highlands and Islands, many crofters have built houses for themselves with assistance from the Crofting Building Grants and Loans Scheme and this has led to a substantial improvement in housing conditions in these areas. In marked contrast to the public rented sector, the housing association sector has grown rapidly over the last 15 years. Scottish Homes figures indicate that at March 1998 housing associations managed around 118,000 properties for rent and nearly 7,000 properties for shared ownership - together making up about 4% of Scotland's total housing stock. The private rented sector now accounts for only approximately 7% of the stock although this figure has remained relatively stable throughout the 1990s. It is, however, now a very diverse sector with a range of properties of varying condition and quality. | |
| Figure 1.2 | |
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Overcrowding and Under-Occupation 1.20 The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey provideds valuable information on the extent to which households are overcrowded or have more space than might be required. The survey measured the density of occupation by using a version of the 'bedroom standard'1. The level of overcrowding in the Scottish rented housing stock measured against this standard is shown in Table 1.1. On average, 6% of all households were below the bedroom standard and the problem is greater in urban rather than rural areas. Over 40% of these overcrowded households were to be found in the publicly rented sector. |
The breakdown between private
rented and rented from housing associations is not
available prior to 1981. |
|
| Table 1.1 | |
| Tenure by Bedroom Standard | |
estimated numbers of dwellings in thousands |
|
| Tenure | 2+ above standard |
1 above standard |
Equal to standard |
Below standard |
Total Dwellings |
| Owner Occupied | 359 |
477 |
310 |
48 |
1,194 |
| Public Rented | 62 |
242 |
314 |
54 |
671 |
| HA/Co-op | 4 |
18 |
56 |
8 |
86 |
| Private Rented | 27 |
52 |
61 |
16 |
157 |
| Total Dwellings | 454 |
787 |
742 |
127 |
2,109 |
Note that due to rounding columns
and rows do not necessarily sum exactly to the totals
given. The figure for the total number of occupied
dwellings is less than the 2.123m estimated by the SHCS
because for 0.6% of the sample insufficient information
was obtained to enable the bedroom standard to be
calculated. |
| 1.21 By contrast, 21% of all households had two or more bedrooms over their notional requirements. Although the levels of under-occupation are highest in the owner-occupied sector, 9% of local authority tenants and 4% of housing association tenants occupied properties significantly larger than they strictly needed. Most under-occupation in the public sector can be accounted for by single person or two adult households and the elderly; relatively few families live in homes that are too large for their needs. |
| Homelessness |
| 1.22 The number of applications to local authorities for assistance under the homeless legislation has risen significantly over the last 20 years. Most people experiencing homelessness are in the larger towns and cities but it is also an increasing problem in some rural areas. There are no reliable national figures for the number of people who are literally roofless in Scotland, although some local authorities have carried out local assessments, including street counts. However, all local authorities do keep records of the number of households who apply for assistance under the homelessness legislation, although relatively few of these are actually roofless, and this information is set out in Table 1.2. This suggests that there has been a substantial increase since 1981 both in the number of households in Scotland who applied to local authorities for assistance under the homeless legislation and in the number of households who were assessed as being in priority need. |
| Table 1.2 |
| Applicant Households under the Homelessness Legislation, 1980/81 - 1996/97 |
Number of Households who Applied to LA as Homeless |
Number of Households Assessed by LA to be in Priority Need |
|
| 1980/81 | 14,900 |
7,700 |
| 1986/87 | 25,200 |
12,200 |
| 1996/97 | 41,000 |
16,500 |
| Source: Scottish Office, Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series), HSG/1992/6 and HSG/1998/4 |
| Housing costs |
| 1.23 Housing costs represent a significant proportion of household expenditure. The Government's Family Expenditure Survey estimates that in 1996-97 housing accounted for 14% of Scottish households' average weekly expenditure. The following paragraphs outline housing costs by tenure. |
| 1.24 Over the past ten years owner-occupation has, on average, been more affordable in Scotland than in the UK and this trend continues today. Yet this average conceals significant cyclical and regional variations. In fact, Scottish house prices have often been higher than all but the most southerly regions of the UK. In 1997, for example, the average (mix-adjusted) house price in Scotland was £67,700, some 12% lower than the UK figure of £75,600, but with only London, the South-East and the South-West significantly exceeding Scottish prices. |
| 1.25 Home owners can also face housing costs for the repair, maintenance and improvement of their properties. The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey suggests that 59% of owner-occupiers incurred expenditure of this kind in the year before the survey. However, only around 17% of all home owners undertook major necessary repair work with the remainder engaged in "cosmetic" improvements or relatively minor work. The costs of such work are difficult to quantify, but on average owners who did major remedial work to their properties spent around £2,000 in the year. |
| 1.26 Rent levels vary enormously across and within the three rental sectors. The lowest average rents can usually be found in the public rented sector. In 1996-97, the average weekly local authority rent in Scotland was just over £31 as compared with around £40 in England. However differences between authorities are marked; in the most extreme case tenants in one authority pay rents that are almost twice as expensive as those in its neighbouring authority. Rents within the housing association sector also vary, but on average rents in Scotland in 1996 were at a similar level to local authority rents and almost a third lower than housing association rents in England. Average rents in the deregulated private sector in Scotland are markedly higher than rents in the publicly rented or housing association sectors, but subject to greater variation both in terms of rent levels and quality. The average weekly rent for new private lets in 1996 was £107. |
| 1.27 Many renters in Scotland cannot afford to meet all or part of their housing costs. The Government assists those households who are in this position through Housing Benefit which is paid centrally by the Department of Social Security and administered locally by local authorities. In 1997-98 almost a quarter of all households in Scotland received Housing Benefit, although in some areas the figure is significantly higher. |
| Summary of the Current Situation |
1.28 This summary of the current situation
reveals, therefore, a number of key factors:
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