Increase in number of households in Scotland

8 May 2008

The number of households in Scotland is increasing as the population ages and more people live alone or in smaller households, the Registrar General announced today.

The Registrar General was commenting following the publication of Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland, 2007 and Household projections for Scotland (2006-based), which includes forward projections of the number of households in Scotland up to 2031.

Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, said:

“Over the past 15 years, Scotland’s population has increased by 34,000. However, the number of households has increased at a far greater rate (by over 250,000), because the average household size is getting smaller, as more people live alone and in smaller households.

“This trend is predicted to continue. Over the next 25 years, the number of households is projected to increase by almost a fifth to 2.7 million - an average of 17,600 additional households per year.

“Scotland’s population is ageing, with more people in the older age groups and fewer in the younger age groups. This has an impact on household structure, as children tend to live in larger households, and older people in smaller ones. Since 2001, the number of households containing just one adult has increased by eight per cent, and the number of two adult households increased by seven per cent. By 2031, one-adult households are projected to increase by almost one-half and two-adult households will increase by a quarter.

The average household size has fallen from 2.45 people in 1991 to 2.19 in 2006 and is projected to decrease to 1.93 in 2031.”

Main findings

Household type: The number of households in Scotland has been increasing steadily, by between 11,000 and 23,000 each year since 1991. Over the last year, there has been an increase of 22,400 households (one per cent).
The rate of growth has increased over the last five years. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of households increased by more than in any other year over the past 25 years.
The areas with the greatest increases over the last five years have been Aberdeenshire (8.5 per cent), West Lothian (8.2 per cent) and Highland (8.1 per cent). The area with the smallest change was Inverclyde.
There is a large projected increase in households containing just one adult, from 809,000 (35 per cent of all households) in 2006 to over 1.2 million (44 per cent) in 2031.
Older women are more likely than men to live alone. But the number of men living alone is projected to increase more rapidly, from 353,000 households in 2006 to 554,000 in 2031, an increase of over a half. The number of men living alone who are aged 85 or over is projected to increase from 11,000 to 35,000.
In contrast, the number of larger households is projected to fall, with households containing two or more adults with children decreasing from 443,000 (19 per cent of all households) in 2006 to 300,000 (11 per cent) by 2031.
38 per cent of dwellings in Scotland are entitled to a 'single adult' Council Tax discount. This category includes one adult living alone or with children, or with other people who are ‘disregarded’ for Council Tax purposes. The proportion of dwellings entitled to a 'single adult' discount is higher in the more urban areas, increasing from 29 per cent of all dwellings in remote rural areas to 43 per cent in large urban areas. It ranges from 28 per cent of all dwellings in the least deprived areas to 52 per cent in the most deprived areas.
Age group: Households headed by people aged 60 or over are projected to increase by over 50 per cent from 753,000 to 1.14 million between 2006 and 2031. In contrast, households headed by someone aged under 60 are projected to increase by just four per cent, to around 1.59 million. The number of households headed by someone aged 85 or over is projected to more than double over the same period, from 69,000 to 177,000.
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 relatively high percentages of vacant dwellings (five per cent of all dwellings in these areas) and second homes (seven per cent).
The most deprived areas have the highest percentage of dwellings which are vacant (six per cent).
Dwelling type: There are higher proportions of flats in urban areas, and in more deprived areas. In contrast, there are higher proportions of detached houses in rural areas, and in less deprived areas. The three island authorities have the highest percentages of detached dwellings (over 58 per cent of all dwellings in these areas, compared to 20 per cent for Scotland as a whole).
Local authority figures: The largest projected increases in the number of households between 2006 and 2031 are in Orkney, West Lothian and Edinburgh (all 35 per cent). Perth and Kinross, Aberdeenshire and East Lothian also have projected increases over 30 per cent. In contrast, Inverclyde has a projected decrease of three per cent over the same period, and East Dunbartonshire has a projected decrease of two per cent.

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