Neighbourhoods and communities 2023: Scottish Household Survey findings

Summary of main points

This report draws on key data from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS, 2023) to explore key findings on neighbourhoods, communities, neighbourhood problems and neighbourhood safety at a national level in Scotland. It also gives additional detail across various protected characteristics, and for people living in different places, such as urban and rural settings.

Neighbourhoods

• The latest data (2023) from SHS shows that across Scotland, the majority (95%) rate their neighbourhood as a good place to live. Fifty-five percent of adults rate their neighbourhood as a ‘very good’ place to live, this is a slight fall from 57% in 2022.
• There are differences in neighbourhood ratings between Local Authorities, between urban and rural settings and by levels of deprivation in an area. There are also differences for key subgroups of the population.

Communities

• People are positive about the people based features of their communities, such as neighbourhood trust and giving and receiving help from neighbours. However, there have been some small declines since 2022. Eight-five percent agree they live in neighbourhoods where people are kind to each other, a slight fall from 87% in 2022. Eighty-nine percent would offer to help neighbours in an emergency (down from 91% in 2022), and 85% could count on neighbours to keep an eye on their home (down from 87% in 2022).
• However, people were more likely in 2023 to agree that there are places to meet and socialise in the neighbourhood (up from 57% in 2022 to 61% in 2023), and that there are welcoming places and opportunities to meet new people (up from 53% in 2022 to 56% in 2023).
• There remain ongoing differences based on where people live, including differences between Local Authorities, between people living in urban and rural settings, and more or less deprived areas. There are also inequalities for different subgroups of the population, such as for disabled people, by ethnicity, age and gender.
• Since 2022, there have been improvements for some sub-groups in the availability of places to meet and socialise. This includes for people living in large urban areas, in the most deprived areas, for social renters and for some age groups.
• There have also been declines on some measures. Notably, 16 to 24 year olds have seen declines in neighbourhood ratings, perceptions of neighbourhood kindness, and being able to count on neighbours to keep an eye on the home.

Neighbourhood problems

• In 2023, 57% of adults had personally experienced ‘any’ neighbourhood problems in the past 12 months, an increase from 55% in 2022.
• The neighbourhood problems that were perceived as most common were ‘rubbish or litter lying around’ and ‘animal nuisance’.
• Neighbourhood problems were seen as more common by those living in deprived areas, large urban areas, people who socially rent, young people and disabled people.

Neighbourhood safety

• In 2023, the majority of people (81%) said they felt ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark, and this is stable from 2022.
• There is a clear association between how adults rated their neighbourhood and how safe they felt in their communities. Eighty-three percent of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very’ or ‘fairly good', said they felt safe walking alone at night, compared with just 33% of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very poor’.
• Women, older people, and disabled people feel less safe in their neighbourhoods. Eighty percent of Roman Catholics felt safe in 2023, an increase from 74% in 2022, whilst safety perceptions for followers of other religions remained stable.