Social Tenants in Scotland 2015

Scotland’s Chief Statistician yesterday (Tuesday 14 February) released Social Tenants in Scotland 2015, a new Official Statistics publication that presents an overview of social tenants and social rented housing in Scotland for the year 2015.

The publication covers topics such as stock, household characteristics, housing flows, and rents and income levels, and is based on an analysis of a range of existing data sources.

Key facts from the Scottish Government’s Social Tenants in Scotland 2015 publication include:

• Social rented housing stock in 2015 totalled 595,052 units (317,005 local authority properties and 278,047 housing association properties), a small increase of 86 homes from 594,966 units in 2014.

• Scotland had a higher proportion of social renting stock (23%) compared to both England (17%) and Wales (16%).

• 31% of social rented households in 2015 were single working age adults, an increase from 18% in 1999. 18% of households were single pensioners, a decrease from 25% in 1999.

• 38% of adults in social rented households in 2015 were employed (24% employed full time, 12% employed part time, and 2% self-employed). 22% of adults were retired from work, 13% were permanently sick or disabled, 10% were looking after the home or family, and 9% were unemployed and seeking work.

• In the period 2013 to 2015, 86% of adults in social rented households stated they were ‘White Scottish’, a higher percentage than private rented households (57%).

• The average weekly rent for a social sector property in Scotland in 2015/16 was £72.99, an increase of 2.8% on the previous year. Housing association rents averaged £81.14 per week, 20% higher than local authority rents of £67.57.

• 74% of social rented households in 2015 had a net income of £20k or less, which compares to 49% of private rented households, 49% of households owned outright and 17% of households buying with a mortgage.

• Across the period 2012/13 to 2014/15, social rented households in Scotland spent an average of 24% of their net income on housing costs. This figure compares to equivalent figures of 25% for private rented households, 9% for households owning their property with a mortgage and 3% for households owning their property outright.

• 32% of social rented households in Scotland spent more than 30% of their net income on housing costs in the period 2012/13 to 2014/15, lower than the equivalent figures of 48% for England and 45% for Wales.

• 62% of local authority households, 63% of housing association households, and 25% of private rented sector households received Housing Benefit in 2015.

• For households claiming housing benefit, social rented households had on average 94% of the value of their housing costs covered by housing benefit (calculation based on a median ratio figure), which compares to 83% for private rented households.

• In 2015, 28% of social rented households in Scotland stated that they managed well financially, an increase from 21% in 1999.

SFHA will be taking part in a review event on Monday 27 February which will be run by the Scottish Household Survey team. The event will share information about Scottish Household Survey (SHS), Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) and Scottish Survey Core Questions (SSCQ) in order to enhance understanding and increase use amongst local partners.

The event is one of the ways to feed into the SHS and SSCQ questionnaire review.

The main way to connect with the review is by making contact with the relevant Scottish Government lead analyst. To take part, please sign up via Eventbrite.