Housing statistics 2017: key trends summary

Local Authority Lettings

During 2016-17 there were 25,788 permanent lettings made, a decrease of 2% compared to 26,258 lettings in the previous year.

40% of all local authority lettings made in 2016-17 were to homeless households, compared to 38% in 2015-16. There were a total of 10,436 lettings to homeless households in 2016-17, an increase of 5% on the 9,913 lettings in 2015-16.

Mirroring the falling stock levels, the number of local authority lettings decreased each year throughout the 2000s (Chart 14) until 2008-09. The number of lettings increased slightly each year between 2011-12 and 2013-14 then decreased. During 2016-17 there were 25,788 permanent lettings made, a decrease of 2% compared to 2015-16.

Chart 14: Permanent local authority lettings by source of tenant, 2001-02 to 2016-17

The proportion of lets allocated to homeless applicants is an important indicator in measuring local authorities' capacity to sustain the 2012 homelessness commitment whereby all unintentionally homeless households are entitled to settled accommodation. In 2016-17, 40% of all local authority lettings made were to homeless household, which is slightly higher than the 38% in 2015-16. The number of lettings to homeless households dipped from 10,390 in 2014-15 to 9,913 in 2015-16, however the figure has now increased back up to 10,436.

Of the 25,788 permanent lettings made in Scotland in 2016-17, 25,524 (99%) were for Scottish Secure Tenancies ( SST) which are the standard local authority tenancies. Most of the remainder (252) were Short Scottish Secure Tenancies ( SSSTs). These can be used by a local authority in place of a SST in certain circumstances. The majority of the SSSTs (83% or 209) were temporary lets for housing support.

Chart 15 shows that there were some regional variations in the proportion of permanent lettings by source of tenant. For example, lets to homeless households made up 73% of all permanent lettings in Edinbugh, compared to 13% in East Ayrshire. The proportion of lets made to housing waiting list applicants varied between 17% in Edinburgh, to 60% in East Ayrshire.

Chart 15: Permanent local authority lettings, by source of tenant, 2016-17

More information can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2002/08/sst/3

Link to tables on local authority lettings: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/StockManagement

The Scottish Government publishes a range of information on Homelessness, including the number of lets for homeless households, collected through the HL1 return: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables