Scottish House Condition Survey: Methodology Notes 2019

Information on the definition and methods of derivation of key indicators measured through the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) which apply to the reporting of 2019 data.


Footnotes

1. The uplifts that were applied to the MIS for households in RRRSTI areas were estimates, based on the approach taken by the 2017 Scottish Fuel Poverty Definition Review Panel which used average data from the MIS for remote rural Scotland published by Highlands and Island Enterprise in 2013. For working age single or couple households the uplift is 15%, for pensioner single or couple households it is 19% and for family households it is 27.5%.

2. 2020 SHCS fieldwork has been suspended since March 17th due to the effects of COVID-19 and the restrictions around travel. This affects both the social interview and the physical survey. Therefore it may be 2021 or later until all additional information is collected to fully account for all the elements of the new definition in the SHCS fuel poverty estimates.

3. Council Tax Reduction replaced Council Tax Benefit in 2013. In practice, the amount awarded is subtracted from the council tax bill, but in the survey it is recorded as an additive component to household income.

4. 2020 SHCS fieldwork has been suspended since March 17th due to the effects of COVID-19 and the restrictions around travel. This affects both the social interview and the physical survey. Therefore it may be 2021 or later until all additional information is collected to fully account for all the elements of the new definition in the SHCS fuel poverty estimates.

5. Household type categories used in the calculation are: single adult (aged 16-64); adult couple; single pensioner (aged 65 or over); pensioner couple; any-age lone parent +1 child; any-age lone parent + 2 children; any-age lone parent + 3 or more children; any-age couple +1 child; any-age couple +2 children; any-age couple +3 children; any-age couple +4 or more children; mixed couple (1 adult 1 pensioner); large (adult couple and >2 members); large (pensioners couple and >2 members); large (mixed couple - 1 adult 1 pensioner and >2 members); large (no spouse, pensioner HiH and >2 members); large (no spouse, adult HiH and >2 members).

6. Large (adult couple and >2 members) and large (no spouse, adult HiH and > 2 members) households are assigned the couple MIS. Large (pensioners couple and >2 members) and large (no spouse, pensioner HiH and > 2 members) households are assigned the pensioner couple MIS. Mixed (1 adult 1 pensioner) couple and large (mixed couple - 1 adult 1 pensioner and > 2 members) households are assigned the average MIS of the couple and pensioner couple MIS values.

7. Only one element of the SHQS is not assessed using SHCS data: no information is collected on external noise insulation.

Contact

Email: ScottishHouseConditionSurvey@gov.scot

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