Households and
Housing
Last Updated: May 2011
In mid-2010, there were 2.36 million households in Scotland – around 162,000 (7.4 per cent) more than in 2001. The number of households in Scotland has been increasing by an average of around 18,000 a year since 2001. Between 2009 and 2010 the number of households increased by 12,100, a rise of 0.5 per cent. Growth in numbers of households has slowed in the past few years. The increase in the number of households between 2009 and 2010 is lower than that between 2008 and 2009 (12,800 households, 0.6 per cent) and is the lowest yearly increase in the last five years.
Vacant dwellings and second homes
Across Scotland as a whole, 2.8 per cent of dwellings are vacant and 1.4 per cent are second homes, though there is wide variation across the country. Remote rural areas have the lowest percentage of dwellings which are occupied (88 per cent), with higher percentages of vacant dwellings (4.6 per cent of all dwellings in these areas) and second homes (7.4 per cent), as shown below. The most deprived areas have the highest percentage of dwellings which are vacant (4.5 per cent).
Vacant dwellings and second homes by urban/rural classification, September 2010
Source: NRS Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland, 2010
Type of housing
There are higher proportions of flats in urban areas, as shown below, and in more deprived areas. In contrast, there are higher proportions of detached houses in rural areas and in less deprived areas.
Dwelling type by urban/rural classification, 2010
Source: NRS Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland, 2010
Single-adult households
Thirty eight per cent of dwellings in Scotland are entitled to a ‘single adult’ Council Tax discount. This category includes one adult living alone, with children or with other people who are ‘disregarded’ for council tax purposes. The proportion of households entitled to a single adult discount is higher in urban areas (42 per cent in large urban areas compared to 29 per cent in rural areas) and in deprived areas (52 per cent in the most deprived areas compared with 28 per cent in the least deprived areas), as shown below.
Single-adult households by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile, September 2010
Source: NRS Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland, 2010