Housing Revenue Account (HRA) statistics: Scottish local authority housing income and expenditure 2018-2019 (actuals) and 2019-2020 (estimates)

Rents lost due to empty properties (void losses) (charts 8 & 9)

24. Councils lost around £20m due to un-let all types of properties held on their HRAs in 2018-19. This represents 1.7% of Standard Rental Income and is at about the same level as the two previous years, well below the peak of 3.7% in 2002-03.

25. From 2008-09 the statistics collected from Local Authorities have separately identified rents lost from un-let dwellings. For Scotland as a whole rents lost amounted to around £15m in 2018-19 representing around 1.3% of total rent income on these dwellings.

26. The percentage of rent on dwellings lost through voids in 2018-19 was highest in Aberdeenshire and (3.3%) and lowest in North Ayrshire (0.4%). Levels of rent lost may be strongly influenced by factors such as different levels of demand for properties, different void management practices and targets, decanting for improvement or investment programmes or the inclusion of properties awaiting demolition.

Chart 8: Rents lost through un-let properties as % of standard rental income¹, Scotland, 199-98 to 2019-20 (estimates)^1,2

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account returns provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.
2. Dotted lines indicate breaks in comparability following the transfer of housing stock as follows:
from 2003-04 transfer of housing stock from Glasgow, Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders,
from 2006-07 transfer of housing stock from Argyll & Bute and Eilean Siar,
from 2007-08 transfer of housing stock from Inverclyde.

Chart 9: Rents lost as a result of unlet dwellings as a percentage of gross rental income¹, Scotland, 2018-19 (actual) and 2019-20 (estimate)

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account returns provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.

Rent arrears and the rents written-off (charts 10 & 11)

27. Total rent arrears on all properties on HRAs at 31 March 2019 was £74m, a rise of around £9.0m (14%) since 31 March 2018. Nationally, rent arrears at 31 March 2019 represent 6.2% of Standard Rental Income on all properties on the HRA compared with 5.6% as at 31 March 2018 and is the highest value recorded since this series started in 1997-98.

28. From 2008-09 the statistics collected from Local Authorities have separately identified rent arrears on dwellings from rent arrears in other properties held on councils' HRAs.

29. As at March 2018, rent arrears on council dwellings was £71m, up £5.2m (7.8%) on last year, representing 6.0% of Standard Rental Income from these dwellings. Rent arrears on dwellings varied from 11% of Standard Rental Income from dwellings in East Dunbartonshire and Stirling to 1.4% in East Renfrewshire.

30. As at 31 March 2018 there were around 102,702 council tenants in arrears, an increase of around 2,940 tenants (a 3% increase) compared to 31 March 2018. The number of former tenants in arrears decreased by around 2,180 (a 7% decrease) from 32,575 at March 2018 to around 30,400 as at 31 March 2019.

31. In 2018-19 budgets, councils wrote-off nearly £10.8m of outstanding rent as unrecoverable (this represents 1.0% of Standard Rental Income) compared to £10.1m in the previous year. Write-offs for 2018-19 varied from around £0.04m in Dundee City, Stirling, Shetland and Orkney to £1.4m in Fife. Amounts of arrears written-off by councils can be influenced by councils' accounting policies and judgements on whether arrears are recoverable.

Chart 10: Rent arrears as percentage of total rental income on all properties on the Housing Revenue Account,¹ Scotland, 1997-98 to 2018-19²

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account returns provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.
2. Dotted lines indicate breaks in comparability following the transfer of housing stock as follows:
from 2003-04 transfer of housing stock from Glasgow, Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders,
from 2006-07 transfer of housing stock from Argyll & Bute and Eilean Siar,
from 2007-08 transfer of housing stock from Inverclyde.

Chart 11: Rent arrears at 31 March as a percentage of annual standard rental income on houses¹, by Local Authority, March 2018 to March 2019

Source:

Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Division - based on Housing Revenue Account returns provided by Scottish Local Authorities.

Notes:

1. Six councils transferred their housing stock to the housing association sector, therefore HRA information is not available for them.