Households and Housing
Last Updated: June 2017
Proportion of dwellings which are occupied, vacant and second homes, September 2016
Over the last 10 years, the number of households has increased by around 157,000 (seven per cent, refer to the figure below). The number of households has increased in every council area, and the increase in the number of households ranged from one per cent in Inverclyde, to 13 per cent in the Orkney Islands.
Over the same period, the number of dwellings has risen by 160,000 (seven per cent). The number of dwellings has risen in all council areas except for Inverclyde, which has seen a 0.8 per cent decrease in dwellings.
Trends in households, dwellings and population, June 2006 to 2016
The number of households rose faster than the population (observe the figure above). This is because people are increasingly living alone or in smaller households. This is partly due to changes in the way we live, and partly because Scotlands population is ageing, as older people are more likely to live alone or in smaller households. Over the last 50 years, one-person households have gone from being the least prevalent household type, to the most prevalent type, according to the census (refer to the figure below). In 2015 nearly 900,000 people were living alone.
Change in household type in Scotland, 1961 to 2011
Average household size in Scotland has fallen from 2.20 people per household in 2006 to 2.16 in 2016. However, the decline in average household size in Scotland is slowing, and average household sizes have been rising in the city council areas of Aberdeen City, City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City, and in Perth and Kinross, since the onset of the economic downturn in 2007/8 (observe the figure below).
The economic downturn has had an impact on the formation of new households. Levels of house-building fell markedly and there have been changes in the living arrangements of young adults, with more young adults living with their parents or renting rather than buying a home. This is linked to the affordability of home ownership. This will have contributed to the slowing of the decline in average household size, which means that household numbers have been increasing more slowly. It remains to be seen if this is a temporary effect or longer lasting.
Average household size in each Council area, June 2001 to 2015
Remote rural areas continue to have the highest percentage of dwellings that are either vacant or second homes (5.3 and 6.8 per cent respectively, compared to 2.9 and 0.5 per cent in large urban areas). The council areas with the highest percentage of dwellings that are vacant are the Orkney Islands (6.9 per cent), Na h-Eileanan Siar (6.5 per cent) and the Shetland Islands (6.4 per cent). Argyll and Bute is the council area with the highest percentage of second homes (7.1 per cent) followed by Na h-Eileanan Siar (5.3 per cent), Highland (3.5 per cent) and the Orkney Islands (3.5 per cent).
Link
Household estimates and projections (National Records of Scotland website)