Housing and regeneration outcomes framework: indicator updates

High quality, sustainable homes

• summary table
• safe
• warm
• resource efficient
• promote wellbeing

Summary Table on Indicator Measures for High Quality, Sustainable Homes

Safe

Chart 11 – Percentage of Houses Passing the Healthy, Safe and Secure Section of the SHQS (Source: Scottish Government -  Scottish House Conditions Survey)

The percentage of houses passing the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) on health, safety and security increased by 3.2 percentage points between 2011 and 2013, reaching 85.9% in 2013. Following this increase, the rate remained fairly similar until 2015. After this there was a 3% point increase from 86% in 2015 to 89% in 2017, but then a decrease of 2.5 percentage points to 2018, and remaining around this level at 86.3% in 2019, leading to a "maintaining” performance for this indicator.

This standard covers a range of safety and security measures including :

Safe: smoke alarms; energy supply systems/appliances; common lifts, internal/external areas, refuse chutes and bin stores.

Adequate: common/public lighting

Secure: dwelling door locks &  common entry systems; with common front and rear doors in a good state of repair.

Note that due to the impacts from the Covid pandemic there was no physical survey SHQS data collected in 2020. Results from the 2021 physical survey are due to be published in 2023.

Warm

Chart 12 – Fuel Poverty and Extreme Fuel Poverty Rates (Source: Scottish Government -  Scottish House Conditions Survey & Scenario Modelling)

Note: The figures for October 2020, 2021, and 2022 are based on scenario modelling and are therefore not directly comparable to the figures from 2012 to 2019, which are based on Official Statistics from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS)

Please note that the 2020 Scottish House Condition Survey was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on in-house surveying. The 2021 survey was conducted using a hybrid ‘external+’ approach, with results scheduled for publication in 2023.

Fuel poverty rates decreased for 4 consecutive years from 31.7% in 2013 to 23.7% in 2017, after which they stabilised, reaching  24.6% in 2019. Subsequent scenario modelling suggests that fuel poverty rates increased sharply from 22.0% in October 2020 to 35.0% in October 2022, reflecting the increases in energy prices and corresponding increases in the Ofgem energy price caps. The estimate for October 2022 reflects the £2,500 Energy Price Guarantee, as well as a range of UK and Scottish Government mitigations:

• £400 to account for the Energy Bills Support Scheme
• £650 Cost of Living payment for those on means-tested benefits,
• £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for pensioner households who receive the Winter Fuel Payment,
• £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment
•  and £150 Council Tax rebate for households in council tax bands A-D or that receive council tax reduction.

The scenario modelling utilised the latest available data from the 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey and applied increases in energy prices to the underlying modelled energy bills and also assigned the mitigations above to eligible households. Modelled fuel bills were not adjusted to account for the £100 Alternative Fuels Payment (which will be added to future versions of the scenario modelling).  

Trends in extreme fuel poverty followed a similar patter, reducing for 5 consecutive years from 16.0% in 2013 to 11.3% in 2018. The scenario modelling estimates that rates of extreme fuel poverty more than doubled from 10.0% in october 2020 to 24.0% in October 2022.

The definitions of fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty are set out in the  Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019, where a household is in fuel poverty if:

• in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, total fuel costs necessary for the home are more than 10% of the household's adjusted (i.e. after housing costs) net income (and more than 20% in the case of extreme fuel poverty) and
• if, after deducting those fuel costs, benefits received for a care need or disability and childcare costs, the household's remaining adjusted net income is insufficient to maintain an acceptable standard of living.

Under this definition, a household’s adjusted after housing costs net income is net of income tax, national insurance contributions, mortgage or rent payments, childcare costs, council tax, water and sewerage charges.

The remaining adjusted net income must be at least 90% of the UK Minimum Income Standard to be considered an acceptable standard of living, with an additional amount added for households in remote rural, remote small town and island areas.

Resource efficient

Chart 13 – Energy Efficiency – Median SAP 2009 & SAP 2012 Scores (Source: Scottish Government -  Scottish House Conditions Survey)

There was a substantial improvement in the energy efficiency of the housing stock, as measured by the 2009 Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), between 2010 and 2014. The median SAP 2009 score increased by 8% from 62 in 2010 to 67 in 2014, although it remained at this level in 2015 and 2016, before increasing to 68 in 2017 and 2018 and 69 in 2019.

SAP 2009 has now been replaced by the latest, improved, industry standard of SAP 2012. The median SAP 2012 (v9.92) score was 2 points below SAP 2009 in 2014 and 2015, but it has shown an improvement of 2 points from 65 in 2015 to 67 in 2017 and 2018, after which it has improved to 68 in the latest year 2019. However, in the latest version of SAP (v.9.93), 2018 and 2019 both had a score of 67, leading to a “maintaining” performance ranking.

The historic distribution of SAP 2009 scores shows that the biggest increase since 2010 has occurred in the 71-80 band, rising from 16% to 37% of the stock. The biggest decreases have occurred in the 51-60 and 41-50 bands, falling by 11 and 7 percentage points respectively.

Chart 14 – Energy Efficiency – SAP 2009 Banded Profile (Source: Scottish Government - Scottish House Conditions Survey)

The uptake of energy efficiency schemes in Scotland since 2010/11 have made a substantial contribution to improvements in the energy efficiency of the housing stock. Full tables are available in the HAR outcome indicators master spreadsheet.

Note that due to the impacts from the Covid pandemic there was no physical survey SHQS data collected in 2020. Results from the 2021 physical survey are due to be published in 2023.

Chart 15 – Disrepair to Critical Elements (Source: Scottish Government - Scottish House Conditions Survey)

Chart 16 – Disrepair to Critical Elements – by tenure (Source: Scottish Government (SG) Scottish House Conditions Survey (SHCS))

Chart 17- Disrepair to Critical Elements – by age of dwelling (Source: Scottish Government (SG) Scottish House Conditions Survey (SHCS))

Critical elements are defined as those whose condition is central to a dwelling being wind and weather proof, structurally stable and safeguarded against rapid deterioration.

This indicator measures any level of disrepair to critical elements, no matter how small.

Between 2009 and 2011, there was an increase in the percentage of homes with disrepair to critical elements across all tenure types, with the Scotland level increasing by 6.6 percentage points from 55.3% in 2009 to 61.9% in 2011. Since then the rate decreased for 5 consecutive years, falling by 13.5 percentage points to 48.4% in 2016, after which rose to 56.9% in 2018, before falling 5 percentage points to 51.9% in 2019.

Since 2011, there has been a statistically significant decrease in disrepair to critical elements for owner occupied and LA/other public sector tenures, with a decrease of 12.2 percentage points for Owner Occupied stock, and a decrease of 8.1 percentage points for Local Authority Stock.

In 2019, Private Rented Stock and Local Authority Stock had the highest level of disrepair to critical elements at 65.5% each. There is also a clear pattern of older dwellings having a higher level of disrepair than newer dwellings, particularly compared to those built post-1982.

Promote Wellbeing

Chart 18 – Percentage of People Who are Satisfied With the Condition of Their Home (Source: Scottish Government - Scottish House Conditions Survey)

There was a significant increase in the percentage of people who were satisfied with the condition of their home between 2015 and 2016, rising 3.1 percentage points to 83.7%.

Over the past 3 years the percentage has dropped slightly to 81.8% in 2019, which is not a significant decrease.

Note that due to the impacts from the Covid pandemic period, the results of the SHS 2020 telephone survey are not directly comparable to SHS results for previous years, and are not considered suitable for the purposes of indicator reporting.

Chart 19 – Walking Distance to Nearest Useable Green or Blue Space (Source: Scottish Government - Scottish Household Survey)

The results show that in 2019: 65.5% of people can access useable green or blue space areas within 5 minutes walk or less, 19.9% need to walk 6-10 minutes, 12.9% are 11 or more minutes walk away and 1.6% did not know.

The results show a small (not statistically significant) increase of 0.2 percentage points in the latest year, in the percentage of people within 5 minutes walk from useable green or blue space. However, at 65.5%, this is lower than 68.6% in 2014, with more people now needing to walk longer to access useable greenspace. This is reflected in the figures that indicate that more people need to walk 6-10 minutes for useable green or blue space with the 2019 rate (19.9%).