Scottish Household Survey: Bulletin No 3

5 Neighbourhood perceptions

Introduction

Another dimension of neighbourhoods examined in the survey is respondents' perceptions of the area in which they live.

In the second part of the interview, respondents are asked to rate the neighbourhood in which they live on a scale from 'very good' to 'very poor'. They are also asked which aspects they like and dislike about living in their neighbourhood and whether they experience any problems living there.

Perceptions of neighbourhood quality

Overall, 50% of respondents say their neighbourhood is very good and 42% say it is fairly good as a place to live. Only 8% of respondents rate their neighbourhood as a fairly poor or very poor place to live.

As Table 12 shows, those living in 'high income' MOSAIC areas are most likely to rate their neighbourhood as very good (74%), followed by 'country dwellers' (69%) and those in areas typified by 'middle' and 'low income home-owners' (59% and 58%). The area type where neighbourhood perceptions were most negative was 'families in council flats', with 12% of respondents rating their neighbourhood as very poor.

Property tenure is strongly related to neighbourhood satisfaction. While over 60% of those living in properties that are owned outright, and over 50% of those in other owner-occupied properties and in the private rented sector rate their neighbourhood as very good, only 35% of those living in properties rented from a social landlord do so (no table).

People in different types of house-hold experience their neighbourhood differently, as Table 13 shows.

Individuals in older smaller households and single pensioner households are most likely to say their neighbourhood is very good, while single parent households are least likely to say this. In fact, 23% of single parent households - more than twice the proportion of all other households - say their neighbourhood is a fairly poor or very poor place to live.

Experience of neighbourhood problems

The neighbourhood problems most commonly reported by the respondents are groups of young people hanging around and rubbish or litter lying around, with around 30% of respondents saying each of these problems is very or fairly common in their neighbourhood (Table 14). A smaller proportion of respondents (around 20%) say that people using drink or drugs is a problem or that vandalism and deliberate damage to property is a fairly common or a very common problem. Only 7% of respondents say that noisy neighbours or parties are fairly or very common problems in their neighbourhoods.

Respondents living in areas typified by families living in council flats are more likely than those living in other types of area to say that the neighbourhood problems in Table 14 are fairly or very common. In particular, over 50% of respondents living in these types of area said young people hanging around and rubbish or litter are common problems in their areas. Over 40% of respondents in 'families in council flat' areas say people drinking or taking drugs is a common problem and the same proportion say vandalism and deliberate damage to property is a common problem in their neighbourhood.

In contrast, people in areas classified as 'country dwellers' or as 'high income' areas are far less likely to say that any of these neighbourhood issues are fairly or very common problems.

Looking at neighbourhood problems by household type also reveals that single parent households are most likely to say neighbourhood problems are common, followed by individuals in large family households and single adults (Table 15). For example, 45% of single parent households reported that rubbish or litter lying around was a common problem compared with only 18% of small adult households and 29% of all households.

Totals add up to more than 100% as respondents were allowed multiple-responses.

The incidence of neighbourhood problems is also examined in terms of the number of incidents reported by households in different MOSAIC areas. Table 16 shows that households living in areas classified as 'families in council flats' are significantly more likely to report four or five problems than households in any other type of area. Conversely, 'country dweller' households report very few neighbourhood problems, with 92% reporting none or only one.

Totals add up to more than 100% as respondents were allowed multiple-responses.

The experience of fires and property crime

The prevalence of household fires and property crime was also examined in the interview. The survey found that 2% of individuals live in a household where there had been a fire in the 12 months prior to the date of interview. The same proportion have themselves - or someone in their households has - been a victim of car theft and 2% live in a household where someone has been a victim of a break-in or attempted break-in.

There was little difference in the prevalence of fires or property crime between different types of neighbourhoods, with between 1 and 3 per cent of people reporting each type of problem in each type of area. The only exception was individuals in the 'families in council flats' MOSAIC category, with 6% of adults living in a property in which there had been a fire and the same proportion having experienced a break-in in the previous 12 months (no table).

Positive and negative attributes of neighbourhoods

Generally, people tended to be more positive than negative about their neighbourhood as a place to live. Overall, 47% of adults say that there is nothing that they particularly dislike about their immediate neighbourhood as opposed to 5% who say that there is nothing they particularly like about it.

There are marked differences in the likelihood of individuals from different area types liking or disliking particular aspects of their neighbourhoods. For example, although 60% of adults mention 'quiet or peaceful' as an aspect of their area they like, only 34% in 'families in council flats' did so (Table 17). Conversely, the percentage of adults in 'country dweller' areas who mentioned quiet/peaceful was 80%. A similar variation between areas is also evident for 'area well maintained', 'nicely landscaped' and 'good outlook'.

Totals add up to more than 100% as respondents were allowed multiple-responses.

Totals add up to more than 100% as respondents were allowed multiple-responses.

Significantly fewer adults in 'country dweller' areas say that 'good public transport' is something they like about their area. 'High income' areas contain a higher percentage of adults who say that local schools is something they like about their neighbourhood (16%), with the percentage dropping to 7% for households in 'families in council flats' and 'country dweller' areas and 6% of adults living in 'Institutional' areas.

The pattern of neighbourhood dislikes also shows particularly distinct concen-trations of attitudes in different MOSAIC types (Table 18). In particular, individuals in 'families in council estates' are significantly more likely than those in any other area type to mention problems with young people, nowhere for children to play, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and the area being poorly maintained.