Scottish Government

Scotland's People
Results from the 2003 Scottish Household Survey Annual Report

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, and their perceptions of safety when traveling in their area in the evening.

Please refer to Section 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 - now accounts for just under two-thirds (65%) of tenure, while 20% of households rent from a social landlord and 6% rent from a private landlord. Just over a third (35%) of all households live in flats, with these properties featuring more strongly in large urban areas than in other areas ( Table 4.9).

Overall, 8% of adults have lived in their current residence for less than a year, while 11% have been resident for 31 years or more ( Table 4.12). 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 almost two-thirds (65%) are in this position ( Table 4.14).

Households in rural areas are more likely to have more rooms than they require. Compared with 59% of households in large urban areas, 75% of households in accessible rural areas and 78% of households in remote rural areas have more rooms than they need ( Table 4.18).

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 4.27 shows, there is considerable variation between tenures, especially in the proportion saying their area is 'very good'. For example, 65% of outright owners rate their area as 'very good' and 56% of those buying their home with the help of a mortgage give their neighbourhood the same rating. In the rented sectors just over a third of social rented tenants say their area is 'very good' - 36% of those renting from a local authority or Scottish Homes and 36% of those renting from a housing association or co-operative.

Households in remote small towns 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 91% of households in large urban areas, 97% of households in remote small towns and remote rural areas say their area is 'very good' or 'fairly good' ( Table 4.28).

The most commonly mentioned 'likes' are that the area is 'quiet and peaceful' (57%), it is convenient for shopping (33%), that it has 'good neighbours' (32%), and 'friendly people' (30%) ( Table 4.30). The main 'dislikes' mentioned are 'young people hanging around/nothing for young people to do' (14%), 'vandalism' (9%), 'too much traffic/speeding traffic' (6%) and 'drug abuse' (6%) ( Table 4.32).

Local transport and personal safety

Table 4.56 and Table 4.61 show the extent to which adults use buses or trains in the evening. Overall, 79% of adults never use buses and 86% 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, or to walk alone in their neighbourhood after dark, the majority of adults think it is safe. However, 21% of adults think it is unsafe to travel by bus in the evening ( Table 4.57), 22% think it is unsafe to walk alone in their neighbourhood after dark ( Table 4.59) and 21% think it is unsafe to travel by train in the evening ( Table 4.62).

Figure 4-1: Tenure of households

Table 4.1: Local authority grouping by tenure
Row percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.2: Tenure of households by year
Column percentages, 1999-2003 data
Households

Table 4.3: Tenure of household by household type
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.4: Tenure of household by net annual household income
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.5: Tenure of households by urban/rural classification
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.6: Tenure of households by sex of Highest Income Householder
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.7: Property type by household type
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.8: Property type by tenure of household
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.9: Property type by urban/rural classification
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.10: Local authority grouping by property type
Row percentages, 2003 data
Households

Table 4.11: Time in current residence by age of random adult
Row percentages, 2003 data
Adult population

Table 4.12: Time in current residence by tenure of household
Row percentages, 2003 data
Adult population

Table 4.13: Local authority grouping by time in current residence
Row percentages, 2003 data
Adult population

Table 4.14: Household type by number of rooms above or below the bedroom standard
Column percentages, 2003 data
Households