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Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2011

3. Sources, methods and definitions

3.1 Household estimates from Council Tax systems

Each local authority keeps a record of all dwellings, and any discounts or exemptions they are entitled to, for Council Tax billing purposes. If a dwelling is vacant, or is a second home, it is entitled to a Council Tax discount or exemption. This makes it possible to estimate the number of dwellings which are occupied or vacant. An occupied dwelling is approximately equivalent to a household.

Council Tax systems also hold records of other discounts or exemptions which provide information on household type. Dwellings with just one adult, one adult living with children or with adults who are 'disregarded' for Council Tax purposes, are entitled to a 25 per cent Council Tax discount. Certain types of dwellings are occupied but exempt from paying Council Tax, such as all-student households and dwellings which are owned by the Secretary of State for Defence for providing armed forces accommodation. Summary statistics on these household types are also included in this publication.

Dwellings and households (Tables 1 and 2)

Summary information on the number of dwellings entitled to different discounts or exemptions is provided by each local authority to the Scottish Government, using the Council Tax Base form, 'Ctaxbase', available from the Scottish Government website. The information on the number of dwellings contained in Table 2 is based on these figures.

In order to produce the household estimates shown in Table 1, vacant dwellings and second homes are removed from the figures shown in Table 2. The resulting number of occupied dwellings is then adjusted from September back to June, as the mid-year population estimates and household projections are both based at 30 June each year. A number of factors can lead to differences between the number of households recorded in Council Tax systems and in the 2001 Census. This can include the treatment of vacant dwellings, shared dwellings, holiday lets, caravans and some communal establishments (such as halls of residence). In order to improve consistency and comparability, the household estimates for each local authority are adjusted by the difference between the number of households recorded in the 2001 Census and the 2001 Council Tax figures. The same adjustment is applied to each year's figures and will affect the number of households, but not the trends over time. The size of the adjustment is not the same for all local authorities. In 2011 it varied from a reduction of around three per cent to an increase of one per cent.

A more detailed description of the method and sources used can be found in the publication 'Household estimates for Scotland by local authority 1991-2004', which is available on the National Records of Scotland (NRS) website.

Vacant dwellings and second homes (Tables 7 to 10)

Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire councils cannot separately identify vacant dwellings and second homes. Therefore these properties are grouped together as one category. In 2011, 3.3 per cent of dwellings in Clackmannanshire, 1.9 per cent of dwellings in East Renfrewshire and 3.8 per cent of dwellings in Renfrewshire were classed in this way. In the 2001 Census, less than 0.2 per cent of dwellings in these areas were classed as second homes, so the total figures have been included under 'vacant dwellings'.

In publications for years prior to 2010, separate figures were provided for second homes in East Renfrewshire in Table 9. However, as such dwellings cannot be separately identified by the council, figures for 'second homes' in publications for years earlier than 2010 should be included in the 'vacant dwellings' category to be consistent with the data provided in this publication and 'Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2010'.

Neighbourhood statistics

The Ctaxbase report, which has been used by NRS to produce household estimates for several years, only provides figures at local authority level. In order to produce statistics about occupied and vacant dwellings for smaller geographic areas, NRS collects equivalent data at data zone level. The first analysis of this data was included in the 'Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2007' publication. Data zone level information on the percentage of dwellings which are occupied, vacant, second homes, have a single occupancy discount and which are occupied but exempt from Council Tax is available from the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) website. Neighbourhood (i.e. data zone) level data are collected as at September each year to be in line with the Ctaxbase report.

In a number of cases, the totals from each data zone do not exactly match the local authority figures from 'Ctaxbase'. For example, some dwellings on the Council Tax systems do not have postcode information or have invalid postcode information. This varies between local authorities: in 2011 it varied from all dwellings having a valid postcode to around two per cent of dwellings with missing or invalid postcodes. The postcode is used to identify the data zone, so a dwelling without a postcode will not be included in the data zone figures. In most cases where there are differences, local authorities have confirmed that the Ctaxbase figures will be more accurate, so the data zone figures are constrained to the Ctaxbase totals for each local authority area.

A small number of local authorities have told us that the neighbourhood level total for a particular category is more accurate. In these cases we use the neighbourhood total rather than the 'Ctaxbase' total in both the neighbourhood statistics and local authority household estimates.

There can be variations in the ways that some local authorities classify vacant properties and second homes between different years. This can have a small effect on the percentages of dwellings which are vacant or second homes each year in a local authority.

Prior to 2010 there was some difficulty in extracting full data zone information from the software systems used by East Renfrewshire council, so it was not possible to publish full neighbourhood level data for this area. However this was rectified for 2010 data and data zone level figures for East Renfrewshire are included in the relevant tables in this publication and are available on the SNS website. Only local authority level figures for East Renfrewshire are available for 2009 and earlier years.

Definitions of household characteristics from Council Tax billing systems

Category Description
All dwellings This is the total number of dwellings on the Council Tax valuation list (excluding free-standing private lock-ups and garages). A 'dwelling' refers to the accommodation itself, for example a house or a flat and includes second homes that are not let out commercially. Caravans count as dwellings if they are someone's main home.
Vacant dwellings This includes:
  • Dwellings exempt from Council Tax, which are unoccupied
  • Dwellings subject to a Council Tax discount of between 10 per cent and 50 per cent due to being long term empty properties.
Second homes Dwellings subject to a Council Tax discount of between 10 per cent and 50 per cent due to being second homes. This includes self-catering holiday accommodation available to let for a total of less than 140 days per year.
Occupied dwellings All dwellings, minus those which are vacant or second homes.
Single adult discounts Dwellings subject to a Council Tax discount of 25 per cent. This may include, for example:
  • Dwellings with a single adult
  • Dwellings with one adult living with one or more children, or with one or more adults who are 'disregarded' for Council Tax purposes.
Occupied exemptions Dwellings exempt from Council Tax, which are occupied. This includes:
  • Dwellings only occupied by students
  • Armed forces accommodation owned by the Secretary of State for Defence
  • Dwellings which are the sole residence only of people aged under 18 or people who are classed as 'severely mentally impaired'
  • Trial flats used by registered housing associations
  • Prisons.

 

When interpreting the figures, it is important to note that vacant dwellings will not be included here if they do not receive a Council Tax discount or exemption - for example, short-term vacancies which can arise when people move house. In addition, second homes which are let out for more than 140 days per year are not liable to pay Council Tax - they are instead liable to pay non-domestic rates. This means that such dwellings are not included here, in either the figures on second homes (Tables 7 to 10), or the total number of dwellings (Tables 2, 9 and 10).

3.2 Dwelling estimates from the Assessors' Portal

The Scottish Assessors are responsible for valuing property for Council Tax purposes. They maintain the web-based Scottish Assessors' Portal, which contains details of every dwelling in Scotland along with its Council Tax band. More information about the Assessors' Portal and the role of the Assessors can be found on the Scottish Assessors Association website.

NRS uses data from the Assessors' Portal to publish information on the number of dwellings in each data zone in Scotland, along with information about the Council Tax band, type of property and number of rooms. This information is based on an extract of the Assessors' Portal database taken around December - January each year. For 2011 the data was extracted on 4 January 2012.

Summary information on dwellings is included in Tables 3 to 6 of this publication and information for each data zone is available from the SNS website. The total number of dwellings on the SNS website for each data zone is taken from the Assessors' Portal data. We use this source rather than the Council Tax information for the total number of dwellings in a data zone because every dwelling has been assigned a postcode and as a result can be allocated to a data zone.

Definitions of dwelling types

Category Description
All dwellings This is the total number of dwellings on the Council Tax valuation list (excluding free-standing private lock-ups and garages). A 'dwelling' refers to the accommodation itself, for example a house or a flat and includes second homes that are not let out commercially. Caravans count as dwellings if they are someone's main home.
Council Tax bands Each dwelling is placed in one of eight Council Tax bands (A to H), with dwellings in band H being the most expensive. The Council Tax band reflects the Assessor's opinion of open market value, subject to a number of statutory assumptions. Assessors base their opinion of value on the actual selling prices of similar properties which sold around the valuation date of 1 April 1991.
Dwellings per hectare This variable has been calculated by dividing the total number of dwellings by the area in hectares, as determined by a NRS in-house measure.
Type of dwelling: This information is based on 'attachment' - i.e., the type of property in relation to its degree of attachment to surrounding properties. This information has been aggregated into five categories:
  • Detached
  • Semi-detached
  • Terraced
  • Flat, maisonette or apartment
  • Not known - in some areas, this information is not available via the Assessors' Portal for every dwelling.
Number of rooms In the Assessors' Portal, this is defined as the number of habitable rooms (usually bedrooms and living rooms). There may be some differences between different Assessors' areas in the way in which this information is recorded. For example, differences could arise in the treatment of open plan areas, dining rooms, kitchens and kitchenettes. This information on number of rooms may not always represent the most up to date position. Assessors are only able to reflect physical changes and alterations to dwellings once they have been sold and a reconsideration of the banding has taken place. Information on the number of rooms is not available for most dwellings in Shetland. No information is separately available for dwellings with seven or more rooms in Dumfries and Galloway.

 

3.3 Information on household types from the Scottish Household Survey

The Scottish Household Survey is used to estimate the number of households of each type in Scotland as a whole (Table 11 and Figure 18). The sample size of this survey is not large enough to provide reliable information on each household type in each local authority. More information about the Scottish Household Survey is available on the Scottish Government website.

The estimates of the number of households of each type obtained from the Scottish Household Survey are adjusted so that the total number of households is equal to the NRS household estimate figure in each year. The Scottish Household Survey figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

3.4 Urban-rural classification

The Scottish Government produces an urban-rural classification, which is based on settlement size defined by NRS and accessibility based on drive time analysis. An urban-rural classification is provided for each data zone in Scotland and this information has been used to analyse the data shown in this publication.

This year's publication uses the latest urban-rural classification, the 2009-10 Scottish Government Urban-Rural Classification, which was published in August 2010.

There are six urban and rural classifications, shown below:

Scottish Government urban-rural classification
1 Large Urban Areas Settlements of over 125,000 people.
2 Other Urban Areas Settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people.
3 Accessible Small Towns Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.
4 Remote Small Towns Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more.
5 Accessible Rural Settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.
6 Remote Rural Settlements of less than 3,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more.

 

Source: Scottish Government Urban Rural classification 2009-10

3.5 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is produced by the Scottish Government to identify concentrations of deprivation across Scotland in a consistent way. It is based on 38 indicators in seven domains: Current Income, Employment, Health, Education Skills and Training, Geographic Access to Services, Housing and Crime. An SIMD rank is produced for every data zone in Scotland. Based on this, the SIMD decile is produced, from one (most deprived) to ten (least deprived). This information, from the 2009 SIMD, has been used to analyse the data shown in this publication.

This publication uses the revised version of the 2009 SIMD. More information about the SIMD is available from the Scottish Government website.

3.6 Strategic Development Plan (SDP) areas and National Parks

In 2009 NRS produced for the first time household projections for Scotland's Strategic Development Plan (SDP) areas and National Parks. These were 2006-based projections. In 2010, NRS published 2008-based projections for these areas. These Household Projections can be found, along with information on the areas covered by the SDP areas and National Parks on the NRS website.

SDP areas cover the four largest city regions around Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In November 2008 the following SDP areas (which exclude any data zones which form part of Scotland's two National Parks) were agreed by Ministers:

Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan Area (Glasgow and the Clyde Valley SDP area)

Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Area (Aberdeen City and Shire SDP area)

Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan Area (SESplan SDP area)

Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife Strategic Development Plan Area (TAYplan SDP area)

The household and dwelling information presented in this publication for SDP areas is built up from local authority level information, where the entire local authority is within SDP area boundaries, and data zone level information, where this is not the case.

Scotland has two National Parks: the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and the Cairngorms National Park.

National Park estimates of household and dwellings are built up from data zone level information.

Data zone boundaries do not exactly match SDP area and National Park boundaries. For the purposes of these estimates (as with the household projections for SDP areas and National Parks), data zones are included or excluded based on the location of the data zone centroid as determined by the Scottish Government. This is a standard approach for assigning the population of a smaller geographical area to a larger one. The data zone centroid does not represent the geographical centre of a data zone but rather is a representation of the population weighted centre (or, to put it more simply, the population 'centre of gravity') of the area. In this publication a data zone is allocated to a National Park if its population centroid lies within the Park boundary.

In October 2010, the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park was extended to include some areas of northern Perth and Kinross including Blair Atholl. Although this change increases the number of data zones which fall at least partly within the Park boundary, the population centroids of these additional data zones lie outwith the boundary therefore they are excluded for the purposes of the figures shown in this publication. The data zones used for SDP areas and National Parks in this publication are therefore the same as those detailed in the 2008-based household projections for SDP areas and National Parks.

Further information about SDP areas, including maps showing the boundaries of each SDP area is available from the Scottish Government website.

 

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