Census reveals housing details

Statistics from the 2011 census reveal that single person households are the most common in Scotland.

The census estimated there were 2.4m households in Scotland and of these, 62 per cent owned their property, 24 per cent lived in social rented accommodation and 14 per cent lived in the private rented accommodation.

823,000 households comprised one person, 808,000 two people, 630,000 three or four people and 112,000 five or more people.
Meanwhile, just over a fifth of households lived in detached houses, 23 per cent in semi-detached houses, 19 per cent in terraced houses and 36 per cent in flats.
The data stated: “A quarter of houses or bungalows were single person households compared with 52 per cent of flats. In contrast, six per cent of houses or bungalows comprised five or more people compared with just two per cent of flats.

“There was a clear association between the number of rooms occupied by a household and the number of people in the household. For example, 30 per cent of houses or bungalows and 26 per cent of flats with six or more rooms comprised four or more people.

“The proportion of households living in houses and bungalows with four or more rooms available was higher than the proportion for households living in flats, 94 per cent and 63 per cent respectively. Owner occupied houses and bungalows generally had a higher number of rooms: 51 per cent had six or more rooms compared with 10 per cent of social rented houses and bungalows and 32 per cent of private rented houses and bungalows.

“Just two per cent (55,000) of the 2.4 million households in Scotland reported they had no central heating in the 2011 Census. This proportion was slightly higher for flats (four per cent) and for households in private rented accommodation (six per cent). It was lowest for semi-detached houses (one per cent) and for social rented accommodation.”

The census estimated that there were 101,000 unoccupied household spaces in Scotland, four per cent of the total. Of these unoccupied household spaces, 64 per cent were assessed as being vacant, for example new builds or other accommodation awaiting new occupants, and 36 per cent were classed as second or holiday homes.

Around two thirds of the unoccupied second or holiday homes were houses or bungalows and the other 33 per cent were flats. Forty nine per cent of unoccupied household spaces assessed as vacant were houses or bungalows and 51 per cent were flats.