1. Introduction
1.1 Definitions
A 'dwelling' refers to the accommodation itself, for example, a house or a flat. A 'household' refers to the people living together in that dwelling. The number of households will be smaller than the number of dwellings, as some dwellings are vacant or second homes.
Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland are used mainly to inform local authority decisions regarding housing need and the provision of services (including housing, planning waste collection and community care). Further information on uses of this publication can be found in Section 3.9.
In order to administer Council Tax, each local authority keeps a record of all dwellings, and any discounts, exemptions or increases that they are entitled to (for example, because it is vacant or a second home). National Records of Scotland (NRS) collects this information from local authorities, and uses it to estimate the number of dwellings that are occupied or vacant (an occupied dwelling is approximately equivalent to a household7 ).
Some additional information is also included. Firstly, the number of dwellings which receive a 'single adult' discount because they contain just one adult, living alone or with children or adults who are 'disregarded' for Council Tax purposes. Secondly, 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.
The Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) are responsible for valuing property for Council Tax purposes. They maintain their web-based Scottish Assessors' Portal, which contains details of every dwelling in Scotland along with its Council Tax band.
NRS uses data from the Assessors' Portal to produce information on numbers of dwellings, along with information about the Council Tax band, type of property and number of rooms.
This publication includes information for each local authority in Scotland, as well as for Strategic Development Plan (SDP) areas and National Parks. It also includes analysis by urban/rural area, and level of deprivation.
The following information is also available at neighbourhood ('data zone') level, and for other geographies, on the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) website: the percentage of dwellings that are occupied, vacant, second homes, have a single occupancy discount, are occupied but exempt from Council Tax, and the number and percentage of dwellings in each area by Council Tax band, type of property, number of rooms, and the density of housing.
Some background information from the Scottish Household Survey is included in this publication, to give context to the figures.
Release 1B of Scotland's Census 2011, published on the Scotland's Census website in March 2013, included national and local authority household estimates. The NRS household estimates were used to help quality assure this data and to reconcile any differences arising between the two sources. More information can be found in Section 3. A report has been published on these differences and the quality of the estimates from both sources. The 2011 Census Reconciliation Report - Households: Comparison of the 2011 Census household results and the Household Estimates and Projections for Scotland can be found on the NRS website.
The household estimates included in this publication have been revised to reflect the 2011 Census results (including the figures for earlier years).
1.6 Data in future publications
On 1st April 2013, the Scottish Government changed the way that Council Tax is payable on certain types of long-term empty properties. Councils now have the opportunity to remove the Council Tax discount on these properties, or increase the amount of Council Tax payable (further details available on the Scottish Government website). As NRS household estimates are based on information from Council Tax systems on the number of dwellings, and how many of them are empty or second homes, the possible impacts of this change are being monitored.
More information on the sources, methods and defintions used, and the uses of the data can be found in Section 3 of this publication.