Scottish household survey 2017: annual report

3 Housing

Main Findings

Note: The total number of households in Scotland has increased by 13 per cent from

2.19 million households in 1999 to 2.46 million households in 2017. This means that in the main findings presented below, a specific tenure can have reduced in relative proportion over time but have increased in absolute size.

Housing Tenure from 1999 to 2017

The proportion of households in the private rented sector grew steadily from five per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016, an estimated increase of 250,000 households, although the proportion has remained similar at 15 per cent in the latest year 2017.

The growth of the private rented sector over the years between 1999 and 2017 has largely been concentrated in urban areas. The increase in the private rented sector in these areas has equated to an increase of 200,000 households, from 80,000 households in 1999 to 280,000 households in 2017.

The percentage of households in the social rented sector declined from 32 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2007, an estimated drop of 150,000 households, and has remained at between 22 and 23 per cent of all households since then.

The percentage of households in owner occupation grew from 61 per cent in 1999 to 66 per cent in 2005, but then declined by an estimated 90,000 households between 2009 and 2014 to 60 per cent. The level has since remained around 61 and 62 per cent between 2015 and 2017.

Characteristics of households by tenure, 2017

Owned-outright properties (estimated 800,000 households):

Most properties were houses (82 per cent).

Nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of households had a highest-income householder aged 60 and over.

Over half (51 per cent) of adults in these properties have lived at their address for more than 20 years.

The vast majority (83 per cent) of adults in these properties did not expect to move from their current property in the future.

Properties owned with a mortgage or loan (estimated 720,000 households):

Forty per cent of households contained children.

Adults in properties owned with a mortgage or loan were more likely to be employed (82 per cent) than adults in other tenures.

Over eight in ten (84 per cent) households had a net income of more than £20,000.

Private rented properties (estimated 360,000 households):

Sixty two per cent of properties were flats and 47 per cent were located in large urban areas.

Over six in ten (61 per cent) of households contained one or two adults under 65 with no children.

Thirty five per cent of adults in these properties had been at their address for less than one year.

Social rented properties (local authority and housing association properties) (estimated 550,000 households):

Half (50 per cent) of local authority properties were flats. Forty three per cent of properties were located in the 20 per cent most deprived areas.

A little under two-thirds (64 per cent) of housing association properties were flats. Over half (53 per cent) of properties were located in the 20 per cent most deprived areas and 53 per cent were located in large urban areas.

Twelve per cent of adults in social rented properties were permanently sick or disabled, and a further nine per cent were unemployed and seeking work.

Over four in ten (44 per cent) of households in social rented accommodation stated that they would most like to live in an owner occupier property, with around half (48 per cent) preferring to live in social rented accommodation.

Households on housing lists:

An estimated 130,000 (5 per cent) of households were on a housing list in 2017, with a further 20,000 (1 per cent) of households estimated to have applied for social housing using a choice based letting system, or similar, within the last year.

Of the households on a housing list in 2017, over two-thirds (68 per cent) were on a single list and over half (59 per cent) had been on a housing list for 3 years or less.

For around a fifth (18 per cent) of social rented households on a housing list, the main reason for being on a list was to move to bigger or smaller property. The main reason for private rented households was that they cannot afford current housing or would like cheaper housing (identified by 27 per cent of private rented households on a housing list). The main reason for owner occupier households to be on a list was to move away from parents / partner (identified by 25 per cent of owner occupier households on a housing list).

Private Rented Sector – changes between 1999 and 2017:

The growth of the private rented sector over the years between 1999 and 2017 has largely been concentrated in urban areas, with the increase in the private rented sector in these areas equating to an increase of 200,000 households, from 80,000 households in 1999 to 280,000 households in 2017.

As a result, in 2017 nearly four-fifths (79 per cent) of privately rented households were living in urban areas.

There has been a large increase in the number of full time employed adults who are living in the private rented sector, with the number of adults increasing by an estimated 180,000 people between 1999 and 2017.

The average length of stay for adults living in private rented households in urban areas has been relatively steady between 1999 and 2017, with averages of 2 years being seen for most years.

3.1 Introduction and Context

The Scottish Government's vision for housing is that ‘All people in Scotland live in high quality sustainable homes that they can afford and that meet their needs’^[18]. While the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS)^[19] is the primary source of information about the physical condition of housing in Scotland, the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) includes many questions on housing which can be used to provide insight into the relationships between living circumstances and the characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of Scottish households.

This chapter presents information on changes to housing tenure in Scotland between 1999 and 2017, along with tenure profiles for 2017 that provide information on characteristics of households by type of tenure.

The SHS has included a question since 2013 on whether a household is on a housing list, and therefore headline analysis on this is also presented. These estimates provide additional evidence on the proportion and number of households that are on housing lists and complement existing sources, such as the Housing Statistics for Scotland (HSfS) publication^[20], last published on 12 September 2017 which included statistics on the number of households on a local authority or common housing list up to 31 March 2017.

3.2 Housing Tenure

3.2.1 Long-term trends in housing tenure

Note that all figures presented in this section on the proportions of households in different tenures should be considered in the context of changes over time to the total number of dwellings in Scotland. The total number of households in Scotland has increased by 13 per cent from 2.19 million households in 1999 to 2.46 million households in 2017. This means that in the main findings presented below, a specific tenure can have reduced in relative proportion over time but have increased in absolute size.

In the period prior to 1999 – the first year in which the Scottish Household Survey was undertaken – the long-term trend was a marked increase in the proportion of owner-occupier households, which doubled from around 30 per cent in 1969^[21] to 61 per cent in 1998. There were corresponding falls in the shares of the social rented sector, which fell from 50 per cent to 32 per cent, and the private rented sector, which fell from 20 per cent to seven per cent, over this period.

From 1999 onwards, Scottish Household Survey data shows us that the percentage of households in owner occupation grew from 61 per cent in 1999 to 66 per cent in 2005 (an estimated 12 per cent increase in absolute numbers of households), but declined from 2009 to 60 per cent in 2014 (an estimated six per cent decrease in absolute numbers of households between 2009 and 2014), and has since stayed at around the same level, standing at 62 per cent in 2017 (an estimated four per cent increase in absolute numbers of households between 2014 and 2017). The increase in total numbers of households in Scotland from 1999 to 2017 means that although the share of owner occupiers in 2017 is approximately the same as in 1999, there are more owner occupier households in 2017 in terms of absolute numbers (1.52 million) than there were in 1999 (1.34 million).

The decrease in the share of owner occupier households between 2009 and 2014 was driven by a decline in the percentage of households owning their property with a mortgage or loan, from 36 per cent of all households in 2009 to 30 per cent of all households in 2014, after which the figure has remained at similar levels, standing at 29 per cent in 2017. The proportion of all households owning outright increased steadily from 22 per cent in 1999 to 30 per cent in 2007, a level at which it has remained, with a similar figure of 32 per cent seen in 2017.

Figure 3.1: Tenure of household by year
1999-2017 data, Households (minimum base: 10,330)

*Please note the chart excludes 'other' tenure

Trends over the medium term have also seen an increase in the proportion of households in the private rented sector, from five per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016 (an estimated 208 per cent increase in absolute numbers of households from 120,000 in 1999 to 370,000 in 2016); however this proportion remained at around 15 per cent in the latest year 2017 (an estimated 360,000 households).

The breakdown of the private rented sector into component parts of households renting from private landlord and households renting from family/friends/employers is available from 2009 onwards. This shows that the increase in the private rented sector since 2009 has been due to growth in the private landlord element of the sector, which has increased from eight per cent to 13 per cent of all households, whilst the family/friends/employer part of the sector has remained flat at two per cent of all households for most of these years.

Across the same time period, the percentage of households in the social rented sector declined from 32 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2007 (a 22 per cent drop in estimated numbers of households), after which the social sector has remained between around 22 and 23 per cent of all households for most years since then. Right to Buy sales have been a key driver for this reduction in social rented stock, with a total of 113,800 sales being made between 1999 and 2007, an annual average of 12,600 homes per year over this period. The number of Right to Buy sales in the subsequent period between 2009 and 2017 has been lower, with a total of 22,500 sales, equating to an annual average of 2,250 homes per year.^[22]

The tenure category of “Other” includes households living rent-free, and this category accounted for one per cent of households surveyed in 2017.

Table 3.1: Households by tenure and year
Column percentages and estimated numbers, 1999-2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Owner Occupier	61	62	64	65	65	64	66	65	66	66	66	65	64	63	61	60	61	61	62
Owned outright	22	24	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	30	30	30	30	31	30	30	31	32	32
Buying with help of loan/mortgage	39	38	39	39	39	37	38	37	36	36	36	35	34	32	32	30	30	29	29
Social Rent	32	30	28	28	26	27	25	25	23	23	22	23	23	23	23	24	23	23	22
Local authority	27	25	23	22	20	19	17	17	16	15	14	14	15	13	14	14	13	13	13
Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust	5	5	5	6	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	9
Private Rented	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13	13	14	14	15	15
Private landlord	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	9	10	11	11	12	13	13	13
Family/Friends/Employer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
Other	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
All	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	14,680	15,550	15,570	15,070	14,880	15,940	15,400	15,620	13,410	13,810	14,190	14,210	14,360	10,640	10,650	10,630	10,330	10,470	10,680

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Owner Occupier	1,340,000	1,380,000	1,400,000	1,430,000	1,460,000	1,450,000	1,500,000	1,500,000	1,520,000	1,540,000	1,550,000	1,530,000	1,520,000	1,490,000	1,470,000	1,460,000	1,480,000	1,490,000	1,520,000
Owned outright	490,000	530,000	530,000	560,000	590,000	610,000	630,000	660,000	690,000	700,000	700,000	710,000	710,000	730,000	710,000	730,000	760,000	770,000	800,000
Buying with help of loan/mortgage	850,000	850,000	860,000	870,000	870,000	840,000	860,000	840,000	840,000	840,000	850,000	830,000	810,000	760,000	760,000	730,000	720,000	710,000	720,000
Social Rent	690,000	660,000	620,000	610,000	590,000	600,000	560,000	570,000	540,000	550,000	520,000	540,000	550,000	540,000	560,000	590,000	570,000	560,000	550,000
Local authority	580,000	550,000	500,000	490,000	450,000	420,000	390,000	390,000	370,000	350,000	330,000	330,000	350,000	320,000	330,000	330,000	320,000	320,000	330,000
Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust	110,000	110,000	120,000	120,000	140,000	170,000	170,000	180,000	180,000	200,000	190,000	200,000	210,000	220,000	230,000	250,000	240,000	240,000	220,000
Private Rented	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Private landlord	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	190,000	220,000	230,000	270,000	270,000	290,000	310,000	320,000	320,000
Family/Friends/Employer	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50,000	40,000	30,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000
Other	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	30,000	30,000	30,000
All*	2,186,100	2,203,160	2,194,564	2,211,430	2,230,797	2,251,262	2,274,283	2,295,185	2,318,966	2,337,967	2,351,780	2,364,850	2,376,424	2,386,660	2,400,342	2,416,014	2,429,943	2,446,171	2,463,569

Note that these estimates differ to the estimated stock of dwellings by tenure figures presented in annual Housing Statistics for Scotland publications. Housing Statistics for Scotland estimates focus on the number of dwellings each year as at March and use separately collected figures on social rent stock.
* Household estimates are from National Records of Scotland. https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/households/household-estimates
Note that during 2003, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Scottish Borders transferred their local authority social rented housing stock to housing associations. Following this, Argyll & Bute and Na h-Eileanan Siar transferred their stock in late 2006, and Inverclyde transferred its stock in December 2007.

3.2.2 Age group of the highest income householder

Figure 3.2 shows the trends from 1999 to 2017 in the proportions of households split by age group of the highest income householder. The proportion of households with a highest income householder of age 16 to 34 years fell from 22 per cent in 1999 to 19 per cent in 2003, and has remained around this level since then, being 19 per cent in 2017. The percentage of households with a highest earner of age 35 to 59 years increased from 45 per cent in 1999 to 48 per cent in 2003, before falling back to 45 per cent in 2015, where it has remained. The proportion of households with a highest income householder of age 60 and over has risen gradually from 32 per cent in 1999 to 36 per cent in 2017.

These trends reflect changes over time in both the underlying age structure of the population of Scotland and differences in household composition. The proportion of adults in the population in Scotland aged 16 to 34 has fallen from 32 per cent in 1999 to 30 per cent in 2017, whilst that of adults aged 60 or over has increased from 26 per cent in 1999 to 30 per cent in 2017^[23]. In terms of household composition, separate Census data^[24] shows that the percentage of people aged 20 to 34 living with their parents increased by 2 percentage points between 2001 (24 per cent) and 2011 (26 per cent).

Figure 3.2: Households by age of highest income householder, 1999 to 2017
1999-2017 data, Households (minimum base: 10,330)

The proportion of households with a highest income householder aged between 16 and 34 years living in the private rented sector increased substantially from 1999 (13 per cent) to 2015 (41 per cent), but remained at a similar level of around 40 per cent to 41 per cent between 2015 and 2017 (Figure 3.3). The percentage of households in properties owned with a mortgage fell from 50 per cent in 2003 to 28 per cent in 2014. This figure has varied in more recent years, with the proportion increasing to 33 per cent in 2016, after which it stood at 31 per cent in the latest year 2017.

Figure 3.3: Tenure of households by year (HIH aged 16 to 34)
1999-2017 data, Households (minimum base: 1,700)

Households in which the age of the highest income earner is between 35 and 59 years (Figure 3.4) have also seen a rise in the percentage renting in the private sector, from four per cent in 1999 to 12 per cent in 2016, however this proportion has also levelled off in the most recent year. The proportion owning with a loan or mortgage has correspondingly dropped from 54 per cent in 1999 to 46 per cent in 2017.

Figure 3.4: Tenure of households by year (HIH aged 35 to 59)
1999-2017 data, Households (minimum base: 4,640)

Households in which the age of the highest income earner is 60 years or over have seen a rise in the percentage who own outright, from 46 per cent in 1999 to 65 per cent in 2017 (Figure 3.5). There was been a corresponding drop in the proportion renting a social sector property from 39 per cent in 1999 to 22 per cent in 2012, after which the proportion has stayed at similar levels. One factor behind the changes seen in the proportions of older households owning outright and living in social rented accommodation between 1999 and 2012 is likely to have been Right to Buy, given that households in this age group are most likely to have been able to benefit from the scheme compared to younger households.

Figure 3.5: Tenure of households by year (HIH aged 60 plus)
1999-2017 data, Households (minimum base: 3,980)

3.3 Characteristics of Households by Tenure

3.3.1 Household Characteristics

The long-term decline in the percentage of social housing has been accompanied by substantial changes in the profile of its tenants. Data from the Scottish Census^[25] show that in 1981 the profile of social sector tenants was similar to the profile of all Scottish households in terms of size, composition, and social and economic characteristics. This is no longer the case and household characteristics in 2017 show some marked differences by tenure. Table 3.2 to Table 3.6 explore these differences in characteristics for 2017 in more depth across all main tenure categories.

Table 3.2 focuses on housing characteristics for the year 2017 such as dwelling type, location (urban/rural and index of multiple deprivation) as well as size of property as measured by the numbers of bedrooms.

Properties owned with a mortgage or loan generally have a similar profile to properties owned outright. Owner occupier properties are much more likely to be houses (80 per cent) than flats (19 per cent). Half (50 per cent) of owner occupier properties are located in the 40 per cent least deprived areas of Scotland, while only 12 per cent are in the 20 per cent most deprived areas. Only five per cent of owner occupier properties have one bedroom, with two-thirds (67 per cent) of properties having three or more bedrooms.

In contrast to owner occupier properties, private rented properties are more likely to be flats (62 per cent) than houses (37 per cent), and they are generally much smaller – one in five (23 per cent) have one bedroom and a half (50 per cent) have two bedrooms. Seventy-nine per cent of private rented properties are located in urban areas.

For local authority dwellings there is an equal split between local authority flats and houses. Forty-three per cent of local authority properties are located in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland, and seventy-five per cent are located in the 40 per cent most deprived areas. Meanwhile 50 per cent are located in ‘other’ (i.e. not large) urban areas.

Housing association properties have a broadly similar profile to private rented properties in terms of dwelling type (64 per cent are flats). Fifty-three per cent of housing association properties are located in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland, and 74 per cent are located in the 40 per cent most deprived areas. Housing association properties are more likely to have just one bedroom (31 per cent) than local authority properties (23 per cent), private rented dwellings (23 per cent), and owner occupied properties (5 per cent).

Table 3.2: Housing characteristics by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Dwelling type
House	82	79	80	37	50	35	44	59	66
Flat	18	21	19	62	50	64	56	39	34
Other	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1
SIMD 2016
1 - Most Deprived	11	13	12	21	43	53	47	24	21
2	17	17	17	21	32	22	28	18	20
3	22	20	21	22	17	14	16	26	20
4	24	24	24	19	7	8	7	20	20
5 - Least Deprived	26	27	26	18	1	4	2	12	20
Urban / Rural Classification
Large urban areas	30	35	32	47	25	53	36	25	35
Other urban areas	35	36	36	32	50	29	42	31	36
Accessible small towns	10	10	10	7	10	4	8	12	9
Remote small towns	4	3	4	2	4	5	4	2	4
Accessible rural	13	11	12	8	8	4	6	15	10
Remote rural	9	4	7	5	3	5	4	16	6
Number of bedrooms
1 bedroom	4	5	5	23	23	31	26	12	12
2 bedrooms	29	27	28	50	53	45	50	45	36
3 bedrooms	44	41	43	20	22	21	21	29	34
4+ bedrooms	22	27	24	8	3	2	3	14	17
Base	3,920	2,900	6,820	1,360	1,390	960	2,350	150	10,680

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"

Table 3.3 provides information on household characteristics for the year 2017 such as number of people in the household, type of household composition, and number of cars.

Properties owned outright are more likely to contain older adults compared to other tenures, with 72 per cent having a highest income householder aged 60 years or more. Households who own outright also have the biggest percentage of two-person households (49 per cent) across all main tenure types. Only 17 per cent of owned outright households have three or more people living in them. Correspondingly, households in this tenure are much more likely than other tenures to be older one-person (26 per cent) or older two-person (32 per cent) households. Eighty-three per cent of households owning outright have at least one car. Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of owned-outright households state that they are managing very well or quite well financially, a figure higher than other tenures.

Households owning with a mortgage or a loan are more likely to have a highest income householder of age 35 to 44 (28 per cent) or 45 to 59 (43 per cent) than any other tenure. Households owning with a mortgage or loan also have the highest proportion of three people (22 per cent) or four or more people (31 per cent) living in the household. Correspondingly, 40 per cent of these households have children. Over 90 per cent (92 per cent) of households that own with a mortgage or loan have at least one car and 84 per cent of households have a net household income of over £20,000, the highest of any tenure.

Households in private rented accommodation are more likely to have a highest income householder aged 16 to 24 (19 per cent) or 25 to 34 (33 per cent) than other tenures. Sixty-one per cent of private renting households are either single adult households or small adult households. Forty-four per cent of private renting households do not have a car.

The profiles of households in local authority rented properties and those in housing association properties are similar. Social rented households are characterised by large percentages of one-person households (48 per cent), and correspondingly have a high proportion of single adult households (29 per cent). Six in ten (58 per cent) of social sector households do not have a car, and almost half (45 per cent) have a net household income of £15,000 or less. Thirty per cent of social sector households state that they manage well financially, a figure lower than other tenures. Around one in five (20 per cent) state that they don’t manage well, a figure that is higher than other tenures.

Table 3.3: Household characteristics by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Number of people in household
1 person	35	17	26	38	48	48	48	50	33
2 people	49	30	40	34	27	27	27	32	36
3 people	10	22	15	14	11	13	12	7	14
4+ people	7	31	18	14	13	12	13	12	16
Household composition
Large adult	11	13	12	7	6	8	7	3	10
Large family	2	10	6	5	5	3	5	7	5
Older smaller	32	3	18	2	7	8	7	11	13
Single adult	11	17	14	35	30	27	29	27	20
Single parent	1	3	2	8	10	11	11	4	5
Single older	26	2	14	5	19	22	20	24	14
Small adult	15	26	20	26	13	12	12	17	19
Small family	3	27	14	13	8	9	9	7	13
Age of highest income householder
16 to 24	0	1	1	19	5	4	5	13	5
25 to 34	2	19	10	33	15	14	15	14	14
35 to 44	3	28	15	20	16	17	16	14	16
45 to 59	23	43	32	17	29	28	29	17	29
60 to 74	45	7	27	8	21	23	21	22	23
75 plus	27	2	15	3	14	13	13	20	13
Number of cars
0 cars	17	8	13	44	58	59	58	39	28
1 car	50	41	46	42	34	35	35	43	43
2+ cars	33	50	41	14	8	6	7	18	29
Net household income
£0-£6,000	3	1	2	5	3	3	3	7	3
£6,001-£10,000	9	2	5	8	15	12	14	17	8
£10,001-£15,000	15	5	10	14	28	28	28	14	15
£15,001-£20,000	16	7	12	17	20	22	21	14	15
£20,001-£25,000	13	8	11	13	13	11	12	18	12
£25,001-£30,000	10	10	10	10	8	7	7	6	9
£30,001-£35,000	7	10	8	9	5	5	5	6	8
£35,001-£40,000	6	11	8	7	3	3	3	6	7
£40,001-£50,000	8	20	13	7	1	2	2	7	10
£50,001-£60,000	4	12	8	3	1	1	1	1	5
£60,001-£70,000	2	7	4	1	0	0	0	1	3
£70,001-£80,000	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	1
Over £80,000	2	5	3	0	0	-	0	-	2
Don't know/Refused	4	1	3	6	4	5	4	4	4
Base	3,920	2,900	6,820	1,360	1,390	960	2,350	150	10,680
How well household is managing financially****
Manages well	74	64	69	41	28	33	30	54	56
Gets by	24	31	27	46	51	50	51	35	35
Does not manage well	2	5	4	12	21	17	20	10	9
Base	3,880	2,885	6,770	1,350	1,380	950	2,330	150	10,590

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Excludes Don’t know / Refused responses.
**** The “Manage well” category has been created by combining the response categories “Manages very well” and “Manages quite well”. The “Does not manage well” category has been created by combining the response categories “Does not manage very well”, “Has some financial difficulties” and “Is in deep financial trouble”.

3.3.2 Adult Characteristics

Table 3.4 provides information on characteristics for the year 2017 such as ethnicity, length of tenure and tenure of previous address of adults.

Over half of adults in owned-outright properties are estimated to be permanently retired from work (53 per cent), and have been in living in the same address for more than 20 years (51 per cent). Of the small proportion (4 per cent) of adults who have moved into their address within the previous year, it is estimated that nearly half (44 per cent) have moved from another owned-outright property.

Adults in properties owned with a mortgage or loan were more likely to be employed^[26] (82 per cent) than adults in other tenures. Of the eight per cent of adults who have moved into their address in the previous year, an estimated 39 per cent moved from another property owned with a mortgage and a further 32 per cent moved from the private rented sector.

An estimated 22 per cent of adults in the private rented sector are in school or further/higher education. Only 58 per cent have recorded their ethnicity as white Scottish, which is much lower than other tenures, while 35 per cent have been at their current address for less than one year, much higher than any other tenure. For those who have moved into their property in the last year, over half (55 per cent) moved from another private rented dwelling, whilst 24 per cent moved from their parental home.

The profiles of adults living in local authority dwellings and housing association properties are very similar. Adults in social rented properties have a higher proportion of people permanently sick or disabled (12 per cent) compared to adults in private rented households or owner occupier households, and a higher proportion of people unemployed and seeking work (nine per cent) compared to other tenures. Eighty-six per cent of people in social sector properties record their ethnicity as white Scottish, compared with 78 per cent for Scotland as a whole. For the nine per cent who have moved into their property in the last year, 45 per cent had moved from another social rented property.

Table 3.4: Adult characteristics by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors***	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Ethnicity
White Scottish	81	81	81	58	89	81	86	67	78
White other British	14	11	12	15	6	7	7	17	12
White Polish	1	2	1	5	1	4	2	2	2
White other	2	3	2	12	1	3	2	10	4
Any Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British	2	3	2	6	1	2	1	0	3
African, Caribbean or Black	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1
Other Ethnic Group	0	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	1
Refused	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	0
Economic situation
Self employed	8	8	8	6	2	3	2	4	6
Employed full time	21	62	42	41	24	24	24	30	38
Employed part time	9	12	11	9	12	11	11	10	11
Looking after the home or family	3	4	3	7	10	9	9	10	5
Permanently retired from work	53	5	29	6	24	25	25	24	24
Unemployed and seeking work	1	2	2	4	10	7	9	7	3
At school	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	4	2
In further / higher education	2	3	2	20	3	6	4	3	5
Gov't work or training scheme	0	-	0	0	-	0	0	.	0
Permanently sick or disabled	2	1	2	4	12	13	12	6	4
Unable to work because of short-term illness or injury	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	0
Other (specify)	0	0	0	-	0	1	0	1	0
Length of time at current address
Less than one year	4	8	6	35	9	10	9	18	11
1 to 2 years	6	14	10	32	18	19	18	25	15
3 to 4 years	5	14	9	15	14	15	14	10	11
5 to 10 years	11	25	18	12	21	24	22	15	18
11 to 20 years	23	27	25	4	19	23	21	14	21
More than 20 years	51	11	31	2	20	11	16	18	24
Average time at current address in years	22.4	9.9	16.2	3.0	12.1	9.5	11.0	10.4	13.2
Base	3,670	2,580	6,250	1,250	1,270	900	2,170	140	9,810
Tenure of previous address****
Owned outright	44	4	16	5	1	2	2	-	8
Buying with help of loan/mortgage	14	39	31	8	4	10	7	-	15
Private Rented	14	32	26	55	21	22	22	-	39
Rent – Local authority	3	4	4	3	47	14	33	-	9
Rent - Housing association/Coop/Charitable trust	3	1	2	2	4	23	12	-	3
Other	2	2	2	3	4	3	4	-	4
In parental/family home	20	19	19	24	19	25	21	-	22
Base	110	200	310	430	120	70	190	20	950

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Based on Household sample (base: 10,470)
**** Only asked of those who have been at their current address for less than a year
Note that the figures provided in this table are based on the random adult part of the survey, and therefore reflect characteristics of adults within households rather than the entire household.

3.3.3 Neighbourhood views, reasons for moving and future housing aspirations

Table 3.5 and Table 3.6 provide information for the year 2017 on people’s views on their neighbourhood, their satisfaction with their current housing, their reasons for moving to the area, and their future housing aspirations.

Over nine in ten households (92 per cent) reported that they were very or fairly satisfied with their housing, with 56 per cent being very satisfied and 36 per cent being fairly satisfied.

Around a third (37 per cent) of households who own their property outright moved to their area to get the right size or kind of property, a figure higher than for rented tenures. Over two thirds (68 per cent) of households who own outright rate their neighbourhood as a very good place to live, with a further 30 per cent rating their neighbourhood as fairly good. Nearly half (47 per cent) of households who own outright have a very strong feeling of belonging to their immediate neighbourhood, with a further 39 per cent having a fairly strong feeling of belonging. Eighty three per cent of households who own outright expect not to move from their current property in the future, and nearly all owned-outright households (99 per cent) state that the type of accommodation they would most like to live in would be an owner occupier property. Around seven in ten (70 per cent) of households owning their property outright were very satisfied with their housing, a proportion higher than any other tenure group.

Similar to owned-outright households, around a third (38 per cent) of households owning with a mortgage or a loan moved to their area to get the right size or kind of property. Nearly one in five (16 per cent) of households owning with a mortgage or a loan state that they would expect to move from their current property within 5 years. Almost three quarters (74 per cent) expect not to move from their current property in the future. Similar to owned-outright households, nearly all (98 per cent) of households owning with a mortgage or a loan state that the type of accommodation they would most like to live in would be an owner occupier property.

Around one in five (20 per cent) households in private rented accommodation moved to their area to be close to work or employment, a higher percentage figure than other tenures. Only 19 per cent of households in private rented accommodation had a very strong feeling of belonging to their immediate neighbourhood, whilst 35 per cent felt not very strongly or not at all strongly; the highest of any tenure.

Over half (55 per cent) of households in private rented accommodation expect to move from their current property within the next 5 years, a percentage much higher than in other tenures. Three quarters (74 per cent) households in private rented accommodation state that the type of accommodation they would most like to live in would be an owner occupier property. Six per cent would most like to live in social rented accommodation and 15 per cent would most like to live in private rented accommodation.

Local authority dwellings and housing association properties show a very similar profile. Around four in ten (39 per cent) of households in social rented properties rated their neighbourhood as a very good place to live, a percentage which is lower than other tenures. Almost eight in ten (76 per cent) expect not to move from their current property in the future. Over four in ten (44 per cent) of households in social rented accommodation state that the type of accommodation they would most like to live in would be an owner occupier property, with around half (48 per cent) preferring to live in social rented accommodation.

Table 3.5: Views on housing aspirations, by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors ***	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Reasons for moving to area ****
To be near family/friends	10	8	9	10	11	13	12	20	10
To be close to work/employment	11	11	11	20	3	4	3	28	11
Change in family/household circumstances / left home	21	22	22	22	24	28	26	28	23
To buy own house/flat or rent place of own	13	23	18	11	10	8	9	0	14
Health reasons, including move to bungalow / flat	3	0	2	1	11	9	10	4	4
Moved to sheltered housing / supported accommodation	0	0	0	0	1	3	2	2	1
Like the area / nice area	21	18	20	13	10	9	10	5	16
Move to the countryside / sea	3	2	3	2	0	-	0	1	2
Good schools	1	4	3	3	0	1	0	-	2
Good services / amenities	3	4	3	2	2	2	2	5	3
Good transport	0	1	1	2	-	0	0	-	1
Wanted a garden / land	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	2	2
Right size / kind of property	37	38	38	19	25	32	27	14	32
Cheaper property	1	2	1	6	2	1	2	3	2
No choice - allocated by council / Housing Association, eviction	1	0	1	2	12	9	11	8	3
To avoid violence / discrimination	0	1	0	2	3	1	2	3	1
Other	1	0	1	3	1	2	1	-	1
Don't know	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	-	1
Base	1,360	1,030	2,390	500	540	360	900	60	3,840
When the householder expects to move
Within 6 months	1	1	1	12	3	4	3	-	3
Over 6 months to less than 1 year	1	3	2	14	1	3	2	-	4
Over 1 year, less than 2 years	2	3	3	12	5	5	5	-	5
Over 2 years, less than 3 years	2	5	3	10	2	4	2	-	4
Over 3 years, less than 4 years	1	2	1	3	2	2	2	-	2
Over 4 years, less than 5 years	2	2	2	4	3	1	2	-	2
More than 5 years	3	6	4	3	2	0	1	-	4
Don't expect to move	83	74	79	30	76	76	76	-	70
Don't know	4	4	4	12	7	6	7	-	6
Accommodation householder would like to live in
Owner occupier	99	98	98	74	48	38	44	-	83
Local Authority Rent	0	1	1	5	42	5	27	-	7
Housing Association Rent	0	0	0	1	3	48	22	-	5
Private Rent	0	0	0	15	1	1	1	-	3
Sheltered / Supported accommodation	1	0	0	1	3	4	3	-	1
Other	0	-	0	0	-	0	0	-	0
Don't know	0	0	0	3	3	3	3	-	1
Base	1,190	870	2,060	440	400	280	670	40	3,210

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Based on Household sample (base: 10,680)
**** Columns may not add up to 100 per cent since multiple responses were allowed

Table 3.6: Views on neighbourhood and housing satisfaction, by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors*	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Rating of neighbourhood as a place to live
Very good	68	60	64	49	38	41	39	57	57
Fairly good	30	37	34	45	48	48	48	37	38
Fairly poor	1	2	2	5	8	7	8	5	3
Very poor	1	0	1	1	5	3	4	1	1
No opinion	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	-	0
Strength of belonging to immediate neighbourhood
Very strongly	47	31	39	19	33	30	32	29	35
Fairly strongly	39	49	44	44	40	41	41	34	43
Not very strongly	11	14	13	25	16	20	18	25	16
Not at all strongly	3	4	3	10	9	7	8	9	5
Don't know	0	1	1	2	1	2	2	3	1
Base	3,670	2,580	6,250	1,250	1,270	900	2,170	140	9,810
Housing Satisfaction
Very satisfied	70	58	65	38	42	44	43	73	56
Fairly satisfied	28	37	32	49	40	39	40	20	36
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	1	2	1	7	7	6	6	-	3
Fairly dissatisfied	0	1	1	4	8	7	8	7	3
Very dissatisfied	1	1	1	2	3	4	4	-	2
No opinion	0	-	0	0	-	-	-	-	0
Base	1,190	880	2,080	400	420	280	700	50	3,220

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"

Figure 3.6: Percentage of households very or fairly satisfied with housing
2017 data, Households (minimum base: 3,220)

3.3.4 Housing adaptations and support

Table 3.7 and Table 3.8 provide information for the year 2017 on housing adaptations and support.

Households owning their property outright (43 per cent) and households in social rented accommodation (58 per cent) were more likely than other tenures to have a member of the household with a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expecting to last 12 months or more.

For households with a person with a physical or mental health condition, the most common aspects of their home that limit activities that can be done (based on the question options provided in the Scottish Household Survey) were not being able to get upstairs inside the house (six per cent) and the bath or shower being difficult to access or use (four per cent). Of all households with a person with a physical or mental health condition, 86 per cent stated that nothing about the home limited activities that could be done.

Twelve per cent of households with a person with a physical or mental health condition stated that their home requires adaptations to make it easier to go about daily activities, which equates to a total of around 110,000 households.

The most common types of home adaptions already in place for all homes (whether needed or not) are handrails, which are in 11 per cent of all homes, and in 20 per cent of social sector homes. Over one in ten (11 per cent) of social sector homes have a specially designed or adapted bath or shower, and six per cent of social sector homes have a specially designed or adapted toilet.

Two per cent of all households currently receive a home care worker or home help to help with housework, cooking and cleaning, whilst one per cent receive a home care worker to help with washing, bathing, dressing etc. Four per cent of homes receive some sort of assistance from a relative, friend or neighbour, rising to ten per cent of social sector homes.

Table 3.7: Limiting activities by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors***	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Household has someone with a long term physical/mental health condition/illness****
Yes	43	24	34	26	57	58	58	51	38
No	57	76	66	74	43	42	42	49	62
Base	3,920	2,900	6,820	1,360	1,390	960	2,350	150	10,680
What about the home limits activities that can be done*****
Can't get upstairs inside house	6	5	6	2	7	6	6	-	6
Too small / need more rooms	0	1	0	2	1	1	1	-	1
Can't leave house because of stairs to house	2	1	2	-	2	2	2	-	1
Restricted movement / can't get around the house due to design / layout	2	1	2	-	2	2	2	-	1
Doors too narrow	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	-	0
Rooms too small	-	0	0	1	1	2	1	-	1
Bath / shower difficult to access / use	4	4	4	4	6	4	5	-	4
Toilet difficult to access / use	2	1	2	3	2	2	2	-	2
Electric lights / sockets are difficult to reach / use	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	-	1
Heating controls are difficult to reach / use	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	-	1
Can't open windows	2	1	2	1	4	1	3	-	2
Difficulty answering / opening door	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	-	1
Cupboards / shelves are difficult to reach / use	3	1	2	1	5	2	4	-	3
Can't get into / use garden	1	1	1	-	1	1	1	-	1
Other	1	-	1	1	1	0	1	-	1
None / nothing	85	92	87	92	79	87	82	-	86
Whether the home requires adaptations to make it easier to go about daily activities *****
Yes	11	6	10	9	17	12	15	-	12
No	88	93	90	91	82	88	85	-	88
Don't know	1	0	1	.	1	0	1	-	1
Base	670	270	950	150	350	230	580	30	1,720

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Based on Household sample (base: 10,470)
**** A long term condition is defined as lasting or expecting to last for 12 months or more
***** Asked of households with someone with a long term condition/illness
Columns may not add up to 100 due to multiple answers allowed

Table 3.8: Housing adaptations and support, by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Proportional sizes of sectors***	32	29	62	15	13	9	22	1	100
Home adaptations that are already in place
Ramps	3	2	3	2	4	3	4	3	3
Door widening	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	2	2
Relocated light switches and power points	1	2	1	0	3	4	3	4	2
Individual alarm systems	2	1	2	1	4	4	4	3	2
Stairlift	2	0	1	-	3	2	1	1	1
Through floor lift	0	0	0	-	1	0	0	.	0
Handrails	12	5	8	6	22	16	20	12	11
Specially designed / adapted kitchen	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	-	1
Specially designed / adapted bathroom / shower	5	2	4	3	13	9	11	9	5
Specially designed / adapted toilet	3	1	2	1	5	6	6	2	3
Door entry phone	3	2	3	7	8	10	9	7	5
Extension to meet disabled person's needs	0	1	0	-	-	1	0	-	0
Special Furniture	1	0	1	0	2	1	1	-	1
Other	0	0	0	-	-	0	0	-	0
None needed / provided	78	87	82	84	65	69	67	68	79
Don't know	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	4	1
Services that household members currently receive
Home care worker / home help (helping with housework, cooking, cleaning)	3	0	2	1	3	4	4	3	2
Home care worker (helping with washing / bathing, dressing, toilet)	2	0	1	0	2	2	2	1	1
Meals delivered to home / meals on wheels	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	-	0
Day care / day centre (in hospital, residential home or other organisation)	0	-	0	-	1	1	1	-	0
Respite / short term care in residential / nursing home	0	0	0	-	1	0	0	1	0
Occupational therapy / physiotherapy	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	1
Help with shopping	2	0	1	1	7	5	6	2	2
Night care (someone present at night only)	0	0	0	-	0	0	0	-	0
Assistance from relative / friend / neighbour	4	2	3	2	11	8	10	3	4
None	92	98	95	96	84	85	84	93	93
Base	1,830	1,350	3,180	660	690	470	1,120	70	5,060

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Based on Household sample (base: 10,470)
Columns may not add up to 100 due to multiple answers allowed

3.4 Housing Lists

An estimated 130,000 (5 per cent) of households were on a housing list in 2017, with a further 20,000 households estimated to have applied for social housing using a choice based letting system, or similar, in the last year.

The number of people on housing lists helps provide an indication of the demand for social housing. In Scotland anyone over the age of 16 has the right to be admitted to a housing list. Since there is no test of particular housing need at the stage that an application is made, housing lists are indicators of demand and not necessarily of housing need.

Housing lists are held by social landlords, local authorities and housing associations, individually or jointly as Common Housing Registers. They can include people who are already in social housing but are seeking a move and in some cases applicants will be on more than one landlord’s list. Social landlords are responsible for allocating their housing, in line with their allocation policies and the legislative framework.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 contains provisions intended to support social landlords to allocate and manage their housing in a way which balances the variety of housing needs in their area and gives local communities a greater say in who gets priority for housing.

A question about being on a housing list was introduced to the SHS in 2013 and these questions are asked of the random adult^[27]. However, note that changes were made to the 2017 questions with the aim to better capture households who are using choice based lettings when seeking social housing. These may affect comparisons over time, and therefore some caution should be used when comparing the 2017 results to earlier years. Table 3.9 provides information on households on a housing list in 2017.

Also note that the Scottish Household Survey is based on a sample of the general population living in private residences in Scotland, and therefore it may exclude some people or households or who are on a housing list but who are living in other types of accommodation such as hostels or bed and breakfast accommodation.

Ten per cent of private rented households stated that they were on a housing list, of which almost three quarters (71 per cent) are only on one list. Over half (56 per cent) of private rented households on a housing list had been so for 3 years or less, with one third (35 per cent) on a list for one to three years. Ten per cent had been on a housing list for more than 10 years. For around three in ten (27 per cent) of private rented households on a housing list, the main reason for being on a housing list was that they can’t afford current housing or would like cheaper housing. This was a much larger percentage than the equivalent figure for social rented households (3 per cent).

Thirteen per cent of social rented households stated that they were on a housing list, of which 67 per cent were only on one list. Fifty-eight per cent of social rented households on a housing list had been so for 3 years or less, with around a quarter (23 per cent) on a list for less than a year. Nine per cent had been on a housing list for more than 10 years. For around a fifth (18 per cent) of social rented households on a housing list, the main reason for being on a housing list was to move to a bigger or smaller property, with the next highest reason being threatened with homelessness (15 per cent). An additional two per cent of social rented households had applied for social housing under a choice-based letting scheme, or similar, in the last year.

One per cent of owner occupier households stated that they were on a housing list, of which almost three quarters (69 per cent) are only on one list. Around two-thirds (65 per cent) of households on a housing list had been so for 3 years or less. Ten per cent had been on a housing list for more than 10 years. For around a quarter (25 per cent) of owner occupier households on a housing list, the main reason for being on a housing list was to move to their own property away from parents / partner.

Table 3.9: Households on a Housing List by tenure
Column percentages, 2017 data

	Owner Occupier			Private Rent	Social Rent			Other	All
	Owned outright	Buying with mortgage*	All		Local authority	Housing association**	All
Whether household is on a housing list
Yes	1	1	1	10	14	12	13	8	5
No***	99	98	99	90	84	87	86	92	94
Don't know / refused	0	0	0	1	2	1	1	-	1
If not on a housing list, whether household has applied for social housing under a a choice-based letting scheme, or similar, in the last year
Yes	0	0	0	0	3	2	2	2	1
No****	100	100	100	99	96	96	96	98	99
Don't know	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	-	1
Base	3,670	2,580	6,250	1,250	1,270	900	2,170	140	9,810
The number of housing lists that households are on (households on a list)
1 list	-	-	69	71	69	63	67	-	68
2 lists	-	-	9	11	9	14	11	-	10
3 or more lists	-	-	4	7	7	7	7	-	6
Don't know / refused	-	-	18	11	15	16	16	-	15
How long the household has been on a housing list***** (households on a list)
Less than a year	-	-	31	21	25	19	23	-	24
1 to 3 years	-	-	35	35	33	38	35	-	35
4 to 5 years	-	-	9	18	14	17	15	-	15
6 to 10 years	-	-	12	16	10	13	11	-	12
More than 10 years	-	-	10	10	10	8	9	-	9
Don't know	-	-	3	0	7	5	6	-	4
The main reason for household being on a housing list (households on a list)
Can't afford current housing / Would like cheaper housing	-	-	10	27	1	5	3	-	10
Threatened with homelessness	-	-	15	13	18	10	15	-	15
To move to a different area - anti-social/safety concerns in current area	-	-	2	3	12	4	9	-	6
To move to a different area - for work opportunities	-	-	1	1	2	2	2	-	2
To move to a different area - to a better area	-	-	6	7	11	12	11	-	9
To move to a different area - to be nearer family and friends	-	-	5	4	7	10	8	-	6
To move to a different area - other reason	-	-	0	2	2	2	2	-	2
To move to a different property - bigger/smaller	-	-	7	13	18	18	18	-	15
To move to a different property - need adaptations	-	-	9	4	5	6	6	-	6
To move to a different property - need ground floor access	-	-	13	5	5	13	8	-	8
To move to my own property away from parents/partner etc	-	-	25	11	10	9	9	-	12
To move to a different property - other reason	-	-	3	7	6	7	7	-	6
Other	-	-	4	2	1	1	1	-	2
Don't know	-	-	1	0	3	1	2	-	1
Base	40	30	70	130	170	100	270	10	480

* The full category name is "Buying with the help of loan/mortgage"
** The full category name is "Housing association / Co-op / Charitable trust"
*** Respondents who have said that either they have never looked for social housing or that they have looked for social housing but are not currently on a list
**** Respondents who have said that either they have never looked for social housing or that they have looked for social housing but are not currently on a list and they have also not applied for housing under a choice based letting scheme in the last year
***** where a household has been on multiple lists, is this the time spent on the list that they have been on for the longest

Table 3.10 and Table 3.11 present the results for 2017 based on the percentage of respondents who indicated that they were on at least one housing list, whether through a Council, Registered Social Landlord (RSL) or a Common Housing Register (CHR).

Table 3.10: Adults on housing lists
Column percentages and population estimates, 2013 to 2017 data

All adults	2013		2014		2015		2016
	Per cent	Adults	Per cent	Adults	Per cent	Adults	Per cent	Adults
No, not on a housing list	91.9	4,060,000	92.9	4,120,000	94.3	4,210,000	95.5	4,290,000
Yes, on a housing list	6.4	280,000	6.0	270,000	5.0	220,000	3.9	170,000
Don't know / refused	1.7	80,000	1.1	50,000	0.7	30,000	0.6	30,000
All*	100	4,416,121	100	4,436,559	100	4,460,738	100	4,488,783
Base	9,920	-	9,800	-	9,410	-	9,640	-

All adults who have ever looked for social housing	2017
	Per cent	Adults
No, not on a housing list**	94.7	4,270,000
Yes, on a housing list	4.9	220,000
Don't know / refused	0.4	20,000
All*	100	4,507,358
Base	9,810	-
Not on a housing list, but have applied for social housing using choice based lettings, or similar, in the last year	0.6	30,000

* Adult estimates (population aged 16 and over) are from National Records of Scotland http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates
** Respondents who have said that either they have never looked for social housing, or that they have looked for social housing but are not currently on a list
Note that changes were made to the 2017 SHS questions on housing lists with the aim to better capture households who are using choice based lettings when seeking social housing. This may have also affected comparisons over time, and therefore some caution should be used when comparing the 2017 results to earlier years

Table 3.11: Households on housing lists
Column percentages and household estimates, 2013 to 2017 data

	2013		2014		2015		2016
	Per cent	Households	Per cent	Households	Per cent	Households	Per cent	Households
No, not on a housing list	90.9	2,180,000	92.2	2,230,000	94.0	2,280,000	94.9	2,320,000
Yes, on a housing list	7.3	170,000	6.6	160,000	5.2	130,000	4.4	110,000
Don't know/refused	1.8	40,000	1.2	30,000	0.8	20,000	0.7	20,000
All*	100	2,400,342	100	2,416,014	100	2,429,943	100	2,446,171
Base	9,920	-	9,800	-	9,410	-	9,640	-

	2017
	Per cent	Households
No, not on a housing list**	94.3	2,320,000
Yes, on a housing list	5.2	130,000
Don't know / refused	0.5	10,000
All*	100	2,463,569
Base	9,810	-
Not on a housing list, but have applied for social housing using choice based lettings, or similar, in the last year	0.7	20,000

* Household estimates are from National Records of Scotland http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/housholds/household-estimates
**Respondents who have said that either they have never looked for social housing, or that they have looked for social housing but are not currently on a list
Note that changes were made to the 2017 SHS questions on housing lists with the aim to better capture households who are using choice based lettings when seeking social housing. This may have also affected comparisons over time, and therefore some caution should be used when comparing the 2017 results to earlier years.
The estimated share of households on a housing list has been calculated based on responses from the random adult but weighted to make it representative of households. This methodology is likely to slightly under-estimate the true figure due to assumptions which are discussed in Annex 2: Glossary.

To convert the SHS estimate into the corresponding number of adults, the SHS percentage is multiplied by the estimated adult population^[28]. This results in an estimate that there were 220,000 adults in Scotland on housing lists for 2017. It is important to note that this estimate does not include children and that, where an adult is responsible for a child, the child will effectively also be on a housing list. A further 30,000 adults were estimated to have applied for social housing using a choice based letting system, or similar, in the last year.

Housing list statistics are more commonly reported in terms of the number of households on lists rather than the number of adults. Table 3.9 reported that five per cent of households were on a list, and in a similar way to adults, this is multiplied to give an estimate the total number of households, as set out in Table 3.11. This shows that an estimated 130,000 households are on a list, with a further 20,000 households estimated to have applied for social housing using a choice based letting system, or similar, in the last year.

3.4.1 Other Sources of Housing List Statistics

Housing list statistics are also reported in Housing Statistics for Scotland (HSfS)^[29], which recorded 162,200 applicant households on Local Authority or Common Housing Register housing waiting or transfer lists as at 31 March 2017, compared with the estimate of 130,000 from the SHS. The Housing Statistics for Scotland figure includes some double counting of households who are on multiple housing lists. However, it also excludes six Local Authorities (including Glasgow) which have transferred all of their social housing stock to Housing Associations.

3.5 Private rented sector - changes between 1999 and 2017

As covered in previous sections, the private rented sector has seen significant growth in recent years, with the proportion of households living in this sector growing steadily from five per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016, an estimated increase of around a quarter of a million households from 120,000 to 370,000. In 2017, the sector remained at similar levels, with the estimated total of 360,000 households in the sector comprising 15 per cent of all households.

Given this increase in the size of the sector, there has been a high level of interest in understanding more about how the sector has changed over time. There is also likely to be interest in the coming years in assessing any impacts of the introduction of the new private residential tenancy, which came into effect on 1 December 2017 for all new tenancies.

This section provides information on trends in some of the key characteristics of private rented sector households between 1999 and 2017. For each characteristic of interest, results for each year are presented in three complementary ways:

(i) Privately renting households with each characteristic as a percentage of all households in the private rented sector. This will reflect changes in the composition of the sector.

(ii) The number of privately renting households with each characteristic.

(iii) Privately renting households^[30] with each characteristic as a percentage of all Scottish households with that characteristic. This measure helps to distinguish whether a change in the composition of the private rented sector, as captured by (i), is due to a change in the relative importance of the private rented sector for households with the particular characteristic, or whether it reflects changes in the composition of the Scottish population.

Key characteristics that are covered are the urban / rural location of households, the age of the highest income householder, household composition, the economic status of adults in the sector, the average length of time at current address, and previous tenure. This information is covered in detail in Table 3.12 to Table 3.14.

3.5.1 Urban / Rural location of private rented households

Table 3.12 illustrates that the growth of the private rented sector over the years between 1999 and 2017 has largely been concentrated in urban areas. In 1999, the share of the private rented sector was higher in rural areas. In particular, the private rented sector accounted for 10 per cent of homes in remote rural areas, double the share across all locations (5 per cent). Since then, while there has been little growth in rural areas, the share of the private rented sector in urban areas and small towns has increased significantly, for example rising by 13 percentage points in large urban areas so that by 2017 one fifth (20 per cent) of households in these areas were living in the private rented sector. This is equivalent to an additional 110,000 households in large urban areas in 2017 compared with 1999, a nearly three-fold increase over this time period.

The share of privately renting households in ‘other urban’ areas (i.e. non-large urban areas) has increased by 10 percentage points over the same period to reach 13 per cent in 2017. This equates to an additional 90,000 privately renting households in ‘other urban’ areas, a nearly five-fold increase since 1999. This high growth rate is reflected in changes in the composition of the private rented sector, with the proportion of all privately renting households who live in ‘other urban’ areas rising by 16 percentage points over the period from 1999 to stand at 32 per cent in 2017. This increase has been compensated by a small decline in the share of households living in large urban areas, and larger declines in the share of privately renting households living in rural areas, with little change in the proportions living in small towns. As a result, in 2017 nearly four-fifths (79 per cent) of privately rented households were living in urban areas (either large urban areas or other urban areas).

3.5.2 Ages of private rented householders

Table 3.13 provides information on the age of households in the private rented sector over the period 1999 to 2017, based on the age of the highest income adult in each household.

This shows that the growth in the private rented sector between 1999 and 2017 has been greater for households with younger highest income householders, with all age groups except those aged 75 and over seeing an increase in the share living in the private rented sector. The proportion of all households aged 16 to 24 who are living in the private rented sector has increased from 30 per cent in 1999 up to 60 per cent in 2017, equivalent to an increase of 40,000 households.

The largest increase in the number of households has been in the age category 25 to 34 years, which has seen an increase of 80,000 households, from 40,000 households in 1999 to 120,000 households in 2017. For this age group, the share of households living in the private rented sector has increased from nine per cent in 1999 up to 34 per cent in 2017.

The share of households living in the private rented sector has also increased for households aged 35 to 44 years. Four per cent of this age group were living in private rented households in 1999, and this has since risen to 19 per cent in 2017, equivalent to an increase of 50,000 households.

This growth across almost all age categories means that the composition of the private rented sector has not changed significantly, with a small increase in the share of the private rented sector of households with a highest income householder between 25 and 59 offset by decreases in the shares of the 16-24 and over 60 age categories.

3.5.3 Household composition of private rented households

Table 3.14 shows that there has been substantial growth in the number of both single adult households as well as small adult households (i.e. a couple younger than pensionable age with no children) living in the private rented sector, increasing by an estimated 80,000 and 70,000 households respectively between 1999 and 2017.

As a result, over this period the share of all single adults who rent privately and the share of all small adult households who rent privately have both increased by 13 percentage points, to stand at 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in 2017. An even larger increase was seen in the single parent category, with the share of all single parent households who live in the private rented sector rising by 18 percentage points from 1999, so that almost a quarter (24 per cent) of single parents were renting privately by 2017, equivalent to an increase of 20,000 households from 10,000 to 30,000. The share of all small family households (i.e. households of two adults and one or two children) living in the private rented sector has also risen, from three per cent in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2017, equivalent to an increase of 10,000 households from 10,000 to 40,000.

In 1999, only two per cent of all older smaller households (i.e. two adults, at least one of pensionable age, and no children) and three per cent of all single pensioner households were living in the private rented sector. These proportions have remained at similar levels, standing at three per cent (10,000 households) and five per cent (20,000 households) respectively in 2017.

In terms of the composition of the private rented sector, there has been a small increase in the share of households with children, which has risen by 4 percentage points since 1999, so that in 2017 nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of all privately renting households were households with children. However it is worth noting that the private rented sector has a smaller share of large families, and so the proportion of all children living in the private sector is lower than 24 per cent. There were an estimated 150,000 children living in the private rented sector in 2017 (See Table 3.15), which equates to around 15 per cent of the 973,036 0-16 year olds in Scotland (mid-2017 population estimates).

3.5.4 Economic status of adults in private rented households

Table 3.15 provides information on the economic status of adults in privately renting households from 1999 to 2017. It is based on interview responses from the ‘random adult’ in the household, and so is representative of adults in private rented accommodation and not entire households. The results should therefore be considered in terms of the overall number of adults in privately renting households, which has estimated to have increased by 420,000 from 200,000 adults in 1999 to 620,000 adults in 2017.

There has been a large increase in the number of full time employed adults who are living in the private rented sector, with the number of adults increasing by an estimated 180,000 people between 1999 and 2017. In 1999, the share of all full time employed adults living the private rented sector was five per cent, but this has since risen to 16 per cent in 2017. This growth rate is reflected in changes to the composition of adults living in the private rented sector over time, with the proportion of adults renting privately who are working full time rising by 7 percentage points over the period from 1999 to stand at 41 per cent in 2017.

There has also been an increase in the number of adults in further or higher education who are living in the private rented sector, rising by an estimated 90,000 people between 1999 and 2017. In 1999, the share of all adults in further or higher education who were living in the private rented sector was 26 per cent, but by 2017 over half (56 per cent) of all adults in further or higher education were living in the private rented sector. Despite this increase, the share of all private renting adults who are in further or higher education was at similar level in 2017 (20 per cent) as in 1999 (22 per cent) due to the overall growth of the sector.

Consistent with the finding in Section 3.5.3 that there has been an increase in share of households with children in the private rented sector, the share of all adults looking after the home or family living in the private rented sector has risen from three per cent in 1999 to 20 per cent in 2017, an increase from 10,000 to 40,000 households.

Ten per cent of all adults in the private rented sector in 1999 were permanently retired from work, and this proportion has fallen to six per cent by 2017. However, given the increase in the sector as whole, this lower share still equates to an increase in the number of permanently retired adults renting privately, rising from an estimated 20,000 adults in 1999 to 40,000 adults in 2017.

3.5.5 Length of time at current address, and previous tenure, of adults in private rented households

Table 3.16 provides information on the length of time at current address, along with information on the previous tenure, of adults in private rented households. It is based on interview responses from the ‘random adult’ in the household, and therefore is representative of adults in private rented accommodation and not entire households. Information on length of tenure is available from 1999 to 2017, whilst information on previous tenure is available from 2009 to 2017.

As with the previous results on the economic status of adults, the results should be considered in terms of the overall number of adults in private rented households, which is estimated to have increased by 420,000 from 200,000 adults in 1999 to 620,000 adults in 2017.

The growth in the private rented sector has brought about some changes to the profile of adults in the sector in terms of the length of time that people have been living at their current address. Within the private rented sector as a whole, there have been falls since 1999 in the percentages of adults that have been resident at their address for less than a year (46 per cent in 1999, down to 35 per cent in 2017), and at their address for 11 or more years (11 per cent in 1999, down to six per cent in 2017), with increases seen for those at their address for 1 to 2 years (23 per cent in 1999, up to 32 per cent in 2017) and for those at their address for 3 to 10 years (20 per cent in 1999, up to 27 per cent in 2017).

However it is important to note that any changes to these profiles over time are likely to reflect in part changes to the underlying composition of the sector over time, such as the increase of the share of properties located in urban or small town areas, which have different underlying profiles for lengths of stay.

The long term trend in the average length of time at current address shows a slightly downward trajectory through most years within the period, however this may be reflecting the change in the composition of the sector in terms of the growth in the number of properties in urban areas, households which generally have shorter lengths of stay on average than compared to properties in small town or rural areas. The average length of stay for adults living in private rented households in urban areas has been relatively steady between 1999 and 2017, with averages of 2 years being seen for most years.

Where adults have been at their current address for less than one year, information is available on the previous tenure of these adults. Sample sizes are relatively low for this, so some caution should be used when comparing trends over time. The results show that in 2017 almost 8 in 10 (79 per cent) of adults in private sector accommodation had moved into their current address in the last year from either other private sector accommodation (55 per cent) or from their parental / family home (24 per cent). These percentages both appear to have remained relatively stable over the years 2009 to 2017. Equating these figures to numbers of adults shows that during 2017, of the estimated 620,000 adults living in private sector accommodation, around 220,000 adults had been living at their address for less than one year, and of these 120,000 had moved from another private sector household and 50,000 had moved from a parental or family home.

Table 3.12: Urban Rural Location of private rented households, by year
Column percentages and household estimates, 1999 to 2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Estimated number of households in the private rented sector	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Urban / Rural Classification of private rented sector households (percentages of all private rented households):
Large urban areas	50	51	52	53	53	52	55	55	50	52	52	53	52	50	50	51	47	46	47
Other urban areas	16	18	18	20	17	18	18	20	24	20	23	24	23	26	26	25	32	31	32
Accessible small towns	6	5	6	4	5	5	5	5	4	5	4	6	5	6	6	7	6	7	7
Remote small towns	2	4	4	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	4	3	3	2	3	2
Accessible rural	17	12	14	12	13	14	11	10	11	11	12	10	11	10	9	9	7	8	8
Remote rural	10	10	8	9	9	8	7	7	8	7	6	4	6	5	5	5	6	4	5
As approximate number of private rented households:
Large urban areas	60,000	60,000	70,000	70,000	70,000	80,000	90,000	100,000	100,000	110,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	160,000	170,000	160,000	170,000	170,000
Other urban areas	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	60,000	60,000	60,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	110,000	110,000	110,000
Accessible small towns	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000
Remote small towns	-	-	10,000	-	-	-	10,000	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Accessible rural	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000
Remote rural	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000
Base	700	790	870	820	830	960	1,030	1,040	960	980	1,150	1,230	1,300	1,160	1,160	1,180	1,200	1,270	1,250
For each urban/rural category, private rented households as a proportion of all households:
Large urban areas	7	8	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	19	19	19	20
Other urban areas	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	7	6	8	9	9	12	11	10	13	13	13
Accessible small towns	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	8	7	10	9	11	10	12	11
Remote small towns	3	6	8	5	7	7	5	5	8	9	9	7	8	12	11	10	8	11	9
Accessible rural	8	5	7	6	7	8	8	6	8	10	11	9	11	12	11	11	10	11	11
Remote rural	10	10	9	11	10	10	9	8	12	11	9	9	11	9	11	13	13	11	11
All areas	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13	13	14	14	15	15
Base	13,780	14,560	14,610	14,040	13,970	14,780	14,070	14,190	12,240	12,370	12,540	12,440	12,890	9,890	9,920	9,800	9,400	9,640	9,810

Table 3.13: Age of Highest Income Householder in Private Rented Households, by year
Column percentages and population estimates, 1999 to 2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Estimated number of households in the private rented sector	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Age of highest income householder (percentages of all private rented households):
16 to 24	22	24	25	26	23	21	22	21	22	23	22	23	22	19	18	19	19	19	19
25 to 34	31	32	32	30	31	32	32	31	33	32	35	34	35	37	37	36	37	33	33
35 to 44	17	20	17	18	18	20	20	18	18	19	18	19	19	19	20	20	18	19	20
45 to 59	14	13	13	13	15	16	14	17	14	15	14	14	14	17	16	15	16	18	17
60 to 74	9	7	6	9	7	7	8	10	7	6	7	7	7	6	7	7	7	8	8
75 plus	6	5	6	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	4	3	3	3	2	3	2	3	3
As approximate number of private rented households:
16 to 24	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	60,000	60,000	60,000	60,000	70,000	70,000	70,000
25 to 34	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	70,000	80,000	90,000	90,000	120,000	120,000	120,000	130,000	120,000	120,000
35 to 44	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	60,000	70,000	60,000	70,000	70,000
45 to 59	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	60,000	60,000
60 to 74	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000
75 plus	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Base	700	790	870	820	830	960	1,030	1,040	960	980	1,150	1,230	1,300	1,160	1,160	1,180	1,200	1,270	1,250
For each age category, private rented households as a proportion of all households:
16 to 24	30	32	37	38	37	36	42	40	44	45	46	52	51	51	51	59	55	57	60
25 to 34	9	11	12	12	13	15	17	18	21	21	26	26	28	33	35	35	37	34	34
35 to 44	4	5	5	5	6	7	8	7	8	9	9	11	12	14	15	16	16	18	19
45 to 59	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	6	8	7	7	8	9	9
60 to 74	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	4	3	2	3	3	4	3	4	4	4	5	5
75 plus	3	2	3	2	3	2	2	2	3	3	3	2	3	3	2	3	3	3	3
All ages	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13	13	14	14	15	15
Base	14,680	15,550	15,570	15,070	14,880	15,940	15,400	15,620	13,410	13,810	14,190	14,210	14,360	10,640	10,650	10,630	10,330	10,470	10,680

Table 3.14: Household composition of private rented households, by year
Column percentages and households estimates, 1999 to 2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Estimated number of households in the private rented sector	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Household composition (percentages of all private rented households):
Large adult	7	11	6	10	7	5	7	6	7	7	7	8	8	5	6	6	5	6	6
Large family	5	4	3	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	5	4	3	4	4	4	4
Older smaller	6	3	5	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	3	3	4	3	3	2	3	2	2
Single adult	38	37	42	38	40	38	37	37	36	33	34	33	33	34	34	33	35	37	37
Single parent	7	9	8	10	8	10	10	9	8	9	9	10	10	11	10	9	9	10	8
Single pensioner	8	7	6	8	6	5	6	7	7	7	5	5	6	5	5	6	4	6	5
Small adult	20	20	21	19	21	24	22	26	25	27	29	25	23	26	27	28	27	26	25
Small family	8	10	9	8	9	10	10	8	10	9	9	11	12	12	12	13	11	11	12
As approximate number of private rented households:
Large adult	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000
Large family	10,000	10,000	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000
Older smaller	10,000	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Single adult	50,000	40,000	60,000	50,000	60,000	60,000	60,000	70,000	80,000	70,000	80,000	90,000	90,000	110,000	110,000	110,000	120,000	140,000	130,000
Single parent	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	30,000
Single pensioner	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000
Small adult	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	70,000	60,000	80,000	90,000	90,000	100,000	90,000	90,000
Small family	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000	40,000
Base	700	790	870	820	830	960	1,030	1,040	960	980	1,150	1,230	1,300	1,160	1,160	1,180	1,200	1,270	1,250
For each household composition category, private rented households as a proportion of all households:
Large adult	5	6	5	7	6	4	6	7	8	8	9	10	9	8	10	9	10	11	11
Large family	4	4	3	4	4	5	5	4	7	6	5	7	10	9	9	10	12	11	13
Older smaller	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	2	3	3	3
Single adult	12	12	16	13	14	15	16	15	17	16	16	19	20	23	23	23	23	25	25
Single parent	6	9	9	10	9	12	12	12	13	16	16	20	21	25	22	24	26	27	24
Single pensioner	3	2	2	3	2	2	3	3	4	3	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	5	5
Small adult	6	7	8	7	8	10	11	12	13	15	16	17	16	20	22	23	21	20	20
Small family	3	4	4	4	4	5	6	5	7	7	8	10	11	14	13	14	14	14	14
All types of households	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13	13	14	14	15	15
Base	14,680	15,550	15,570	15,070	14,880	15,940	15,400	15,620	13,410	13,810	14,190	14,210	14,360	10,640	10,650	10,630	10,330	10,470	10,680

Table 3.15: Economic Situation of adults in private rented households, by year
Column percentages and households estimates, 1999 to 2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Estimated number of households in the private rented sector	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Estimated number of children	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	60,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	100,000	120,000	140,000	120,000	130,000	150,000	150,000	150,000
Estimated number of adults	200,000	210,000	220,000	230,000	230,000	260,000	290,000	300,000	360,000	370,000	420,000	450,000	460,000	530,000	550,000	560,000	590,000	610,000	620,000
Estimated number of people	240,000	260,000	270,000	290,000	290,000	320,000	360,000	350,000	440,000	450,000	500,000	550,000	580,000	670,000	670,000	690,000	740,000	750,000	770,000
Economic situation of adults (percentages of all adults in private rented households):
Self employed	6	6	5	6	5	5	6	5	7	5	5	5	6	8	6	6	7	8	6
Employed full time	34	34	37	32	37	41	37	40	41	42	40	38	40	40	44	44	44	41	41
Employed part time	8	6	6	5	8	7	7	8	7	9	10	9	10	9	8	7	9	8	9
Looking after the home or family	5	6	8	9	9	8	10	8	8	9	6	7	6	6	8	7	7	8	7
Permanently retired from work	10	8	9	8	7	7	8	8	6	6	7	5	6	6	5	5	5	6	6
Unemployed and seeking work	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	9	11	6	7	7	5	6	5	4
At school	-	2	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2
In further / higher education	22	27	22	27	22	19	21	20	19	20	19	21	20	17	17	21	18	20	20
Gov't work or training scheme	1	0	0	0	0	1	-	0	0	0	0	0	-	0	0	-	-	0	0
Permanently sick or disabled	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	2	3	4	3	2	2	2	4
Unable to work because of short-term illness or injury	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
Other	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
As approximate number of adults in private rented households:
Self employed	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	40,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	50,000	40,000
Employed full time	70,000	70,000	80,000	70,000	80,000	110,000	110,000	120,000	150,000	150,000	170,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	240,000	250,000	260,000	250,000	250,000
Employed part time	20,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	60,000
Looking after the home or family	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	50,000	40,000	40,000	50,000	40,000
Permanently retired from work	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	40,000
Unemployed and seeking work	20,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	40,000	50,000	30,000	40,000	40,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	20,000
At school	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
In further / higher education	40,000	60,000	50,000	60,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	60,000	70,000	80,000	80,000	90,000	90,000	90,000	90,000	120,000	100,000	120,000	130,000
Gov't work or training scheme	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Permanently sick or disabled	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000
Unable to work because of short-term illness or injury	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10,000	-	-	10,000
Other	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Base	700	790	870	820	830	960	1,030	1,040	960	980	1,150	1,230	1,300	1,160	1,160	1,180	1,200	1,270	1,250
For each economic status category, private rented adults as a proportion of all adults:
Self employed	6	7	6	8	6	8	9	7	11	9	8	10	11	16	13	15	17	18	15
Employed full time	5	5	6	5	6	7	7	8	9	10	11	12	12	14	15	16	17	16	16
Employed part time	4	3	4	3	5	4	5	6	6	8	9	9	10	11	10	9	12	12	12
Looking after the home or family	3	4	6	7	7	8	12	9	11	13	11	14	14	16	18	20	18	21	20
Permanently retired from work	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	3
Unemployed and seeking work	9	8	11	11	9	10	14	11	12	11	17	20	13	17	17	15	24	19	17
At school	.	5	3	4	2	4	2	3	3	2	5	4	9	7	8	8	9	9	16
In further / higher education	26	35	32	32	29	29	34	33	31	38	38	40	40	42	41	49	46	48	56
Gov't work or training scheme	11	1	7	3	4	20	-	4	16	10	13	7	-	26	27	-	-	26	62
Permanently sick or disabled	4	4	5	4	5	6	6	5	8	6	6	4	8	11	10	8	9	8	13
Unable to work because of short-term illness or injury	10	6	7	11	10	14	6	7	9	9	12	10	12	24	6	20	11	13	27
Other (specify)	3	10	3	4	9	10	11	10	7	7	3	17	17	20	28	11	5	28	-
All adults	5	6	6	6	6	7	8	8	9	9	10	11	11	13	13	13	14	14	15
Base	13,780	14,560	14,640	14,040	13,970	14,780	14,070	14,190	12,240	12,370	12,540	12,440	12,890	9,890	9,920	9,800	9,410	9,640	9,810

Table 3.16: Length of time at address in private rented households, by year
Column percentages and households estimates, 1999 to 2017 data

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Estimated households in the sector	120,000	120,000	140,000	140,000	140,000	160,000	170,000	180,000	210,000	210,000	240,000	260,000	270,000	320,000	320,000	330,000	350,000	370,000	360,000
Estimated number of children	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	60,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	100,000	120,000	140,000	120,000	130,000	150,000	150,000	150,000
Estimated number of adults	200,000	210,000	220,000	230,000	230,000	260,000	290,000	300,000	360,000	370,000	420,000	450,000	460,000	530,000	550,000	560,000	590,000	610,000	620,000
Estimated number of people	240,000	260,000	270,000	290,000	290,000	320,000	360,000	350,000	440,000	450,000	500,000	550,000	580,000	670,000	670,000	690,000	740,000	750,000	770,000
Length of time at current address (percentages of all adults in private rented households):
Less than one year	46	45	48	52	46	47	46	45	49	47	39	42	42	44	40	44	43	41	35
1 to 2 years	23	27	25	21	30	26	26	27	28	28	30	30	29	29	30	27	28	27	32
3 to 4 years	11	11	10	11	7	9	11	11	10	8	10	11	13	13	14	14	14	15	15
5 to 10 years	9	7	7	7	8	9	9	9	7	9	9	10	9	9	10	10	10	12	12
11 to 20 years	6	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	3	4
More than 20 years	6	4	4	5	4	4	3	3	4	3	7	3	3	1	3	2	2	2	2
As approximate number of adults in private rented households:
Less than one year	90,000	100,000	110,000	120,000	110,000	120,000	130,000	140,000	180,000	170,000	170,000	190,000	190,000	230,000	220,000	240,000	250,000	250,000	220,000
1 to 2 years	50,000	60,000	50,000	50,000	70,000	70,000	80,000	80,000	100,000	100,000	130,000	140,000	140,000	150,000	160,000	150,000	170,000	160,000	200,000
3 to 4 years	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	90,000	90,000
5 to 10 years	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	40,000	50,000	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	60,000	70,000	80,000
11 to 20 years	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000
More than 20 years	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	30,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Average time at current address	4.3	3.5	3.6	3.8	3.5	3.2	3.3	3.0	3.0	3.5	4.5	2.8	3.0	2.5	3.0	2.7	2.7	2.8	3.0
Base	700	790	870	820	830	960	1,030	1,040	960	980	1,150	1,230	1,300	1,160	1,160	1,180	1,200	1,270	1,250
Average time (years) - urban areas	2.9	2.6	2.1	2.4	2.6	1.9	2.3	2.2	2.0	2.0	3.6	2.0	2.1	1.8	2.3	1.9	2.2	2.1	2.4
Base	410	500	540	520	520	620	690	730	640	650	780	840	890	800	810	810	840	910	920
Average time (years) - small towns	3.4	3.3	3.0	3.3	2.1	1.9	1.9	2.0	1.3	3.4	4.0	3.2	2.5	3.2	2.8	3.1	2.3	3.3	3.6
Base	70	90	110	80	90	90	100	100	80	120	120	130	140	150	140	150	150	160	130
Average time (years) - rural areas	8.1	6.5	9.1	8.6	6.6	7.9	7.7	7.4	7.0	9.9	8.7	6.7	7.5	6.1	6.6	6.4	5.5	6.4	6.7
Base	230	210	210	210	220	250	240	220	240	220	260	210	270	210	210	220	210	200	200
Tenure of previous address* (percentages of all adults in private rented households):
Owned outright	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	2	2	3	4	3	2	4	5	5
Buying with help of loan/mortgage	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8	6	7	10	11	9	8	7	8
Private Rented	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	56	57	54	53	55	52	56	55	55
Rent – Local authority	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	4	3	5	4	5	5	3	2	3
Rent - Housing association/Coop/Charitable trust	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	2	2
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	3	2	3	5	3	4	4	3	3
In parental/family home	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	24	28	26	23	21	27	24	26	24
As approximate number of adults in private rented households:
Owned outright	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	-	10,000	10,000	10,000
Buying with help of loan/mortgage	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	10,000	10,000	10,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000
Private Rented	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	90,000	110,000	100,000	120,000	120,000	130,000	140,000	140,000	120,000
Rent – Local authority	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Rent - Housing association/Coop/Charitable trust	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	10,000	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
In parental/family home	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	40,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	70,000	60,000	60,000	50,000
Base	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	450	500	510	460	450	480	460	470	430

* asked of those who have lived at their current address for less than one year