This publication includes information for each Council area 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 (SHS) is included in this publication, to give context to the figures.
In order to administer Council Tax, each council keeps a record of all dwellings, as well as information on certain categories such as vacant dwellings and second homes. National Records of Scotland (NRS) collects a summary of this information, and uses it to estimate the number of dwellings that are occupied or vacant, by subtracting the number of dwellings which are vacant or second homes from the total number of dwellings. An occupied dwelling is approximately equivalent to a household.
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.
| 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:
|
| Second homes | Dwellings subject to a Council Tax discount of between 10 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:
|
| Occupied exemptions | Dwellings exempt from Council Tax, which are occupied. This includes:
|
When interpreting the figures, it is important to note that vacant dwellings will not be included here if they are not recorded on Council Tax systems – for example, shortterm 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, 8, 9a, 9b, 10), or the total number of dwellings (Tables 2, 9a and 10).
Summary information on the number of dwellings in different categories is provided by each council 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.
There can be some differences between the Council Tax-based figures and the census household estimates, e.g. due to the way that shared dwellings or vacant dwellings are treated. To account for this, the household estimates for each Council area are adjusted by the percentage difference between the number of households recorded in the 2011 Census and the 2011 Council Tax figures. In order to adjust the census figures from Census Day to June, household information from the census ('headship rates') is applied to the mid-year population estimate for 2011. Figures for 2012 onwards are adjusted by the same amount as the 2011 figures. The average adjustment was a 0.6 per cent reduction; it varied from a reduction of around three per cent to an increase of around four per cent. A straight-line interpolation was used to adjust the figures between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses.
The household estimates for 2001 to 2012 have been revised slightly since the 2012 publication. This is because mid-year population estimates rebased to the 2011 Census were not available at that time. Instead, census population estimates rolled forward to June were used to adjust the Council Tax-based household figures. For this publication, we have been able to incorporate the rebased mid-year population estimates into the adjustment.A report has been published on the differences between the 2011 Census and the NRS household estimates. 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.
Clackmannanshire Council cannot separately identify vacant dwellings and second homes. Therefore, these properties are grouped together under 'vacant dwellings'. They comprise 3.2 per cent of dwellings in Clackmannanshire in 2013.
Separate figures were not available for second homes in East Renfrewshire until 2012, and Renfrewshire until 2013. When comparing these years' figures with earlier years, dwellings for 'second homes' should be included in the 'vacant dwellings' category in order to have consistent figures for comparison over time.
The Ctaxbase report, which is used by NRS to produce household estimates, only provides figures at the Council area level. In order to produce statistics about occupied and vacant dwellings for smaller geographic areas, NRS collects equivalent data at data zone level, and publishes it on the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) website.
In a number of cases, the totals from each data zone do not exactly match the Council area 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 Council areas. In 2013, it varied from all dwellings in a council 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 level figures. In most cases where there are differences, councils have confirmed that the Ctaxbase figures will be more accurate, so the data zone figures are constrained to the Ctaxbase totals for each Council area.
A small number of councils have told us that the neighbourhood-level total for a particular category is more accurate. In these cases, we use the neighbourhood-level total rather than the 'Ctaxbase' total in both the neighbourhood statistics and Council area household estimates.
The Scottish Assessors are responsible for valuing property for Council Tax purposes. They maintain their web-based Scottish Assessors' Portal (www.saa.gov.uk), which contains details of every dwelling in Scotland along with its Council Tax band.
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 2013, the data was extracted on 7 January 2014.
Summary information on dwellings is included in Tables 3, 4, 5, 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.
It is important for the interpretation of these statistics to note that 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. More information about this can be found on the Scottish Assessors' Association website.
| 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:
|
| Number of rooms | In the Assessors' Portal, this is defined as the number of habitable rooms
(usually bedrooms and living rooms). This is different to the census
definition, which includes kitchens. 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. |
Household and dwelling estimates are drawn from administrative data sources relating to Council Tax. There are limitations in using administrative sources to produce statistics. Small differences can arise in the definitions used for various categories of households/dwellings in the administrative systems used. It is also possible that not all information held on administrative systems is up-to-date. For example, councils may not be notified immediately of a change in the circumstances of a household which affects eligibility for a Council Tax discount or exemption. Furthermore, it may take time for changes as a result of new building or demolition to be recorded.
Changes over time in categories of Council Tax discounts and exemptions can occur because a Council area has carried out a review and identified cases where a dwelling has been incorrectly categorised. There can also be variations in the ways that some councils 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 Council area. In 2013, some councils carried out re-classification exercises of vacant dwellings and second homes that appear to show discontinuities over time. Users are advised to note these differences when analysing the figures.
At neighbourhood-level, changes over time can occur not only as a result of new building activity and demolition, but also because of changes related to the postcodes of dwellings. Postcode changes can occur due to improvements made to administrative systems or NRS data cleaning, and reallocating postcodes which were previously allocated to an incorrect neighbourhood. Differences can also occur when postcodes are allocated to a different neighbourhood because the distribution of their population has changed. These differences are likely to be minimal and have only a small effect on change over time, except when looking at small numbers of data zones.
The NRS household estimates were used to help quality assure Scotland’s 2011 Census. A report has been published on any 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).
Average household size is calculated using the mid-year household estimates, the mid-year population estimates, and communal establishment rates from the 2001 and the 2011 Censuses. The first step in calculating the average household size is to calculate the number of people living in private households (‘private household population’) rather than in communal establishments, such as student halls of residence, prisons or care homes. This is done by applying the communal establishment rates to the mid-year population estimates to estimate the communal establishment population, and subtracting this population from the mid-year population estimate. Communal establishment rates for 2002 and 2010 are estimated from the 2001 and 2011 Census rates. The communal establishment rates from the 2011 Census are used from 2012 onwards. The second step is to estimate average household size by dividing the private household population by the mid-year household estimate.
The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is used to estimate the number of households of each type in Scotland as a whole (Tables 12 and 13, and Figures 3 and 4). The sample size of this survey is not large enough to provide reliable information on each household type in each Council area. 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 SHS are adjusted so that the total number of households is equal to the NRS household estimate figure in each year. The SHS figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
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 2011-2012 Scottish Government Urban/Rural Classification, which was published in August 2012.
There are six urban and rural classifications, shown below:
| Source: Scottish Government Urban/Rural Classification 2011-2012 of the SG website. | |
| Large Urban Areas | Settlements of over 125,000 people. |
|---|---|
| Other Urban Areas | Settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people. |
| Accessible Small Towns | Settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| 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. |
| Accessible Rural | Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more. |
| Remote Rural | Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more |
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. A SIMD rank is produced for every data zone in Scotland. Based on this, the SIMD deciles are produced, from one (most deprived) to ten (least deprived). This information, from the 2012 SIMD, has been used to analyse the data shown in this publication.
This publication uses the revised version of the 2012 SIMD. More information about the SIMD is available from the Scottish Government website.
SDP areas cover the four largest city regions around Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow:
The household and dwelling information presented in this publication for SDP areas is built up from Council area level information, where the entire Council area 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, 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 is rather a representation of the population weighted centre (another way of describing this would be as the population 'centre of gravity') of the area. In this publication, a data zone is allocated to an SDP area or National Park if its population centroid lies within the SDP or Park boundary.
Further information about SDP areas, including maps showing the boundaries of each SDP area, is available from the Scottish Government website. Household Projections for SDP areas and National Parks can be found on the NRS website, along with information on the areas covered.
Statistics about dwellings and households are used mainly for informing council decisions about housing need and the provision of services (including housing, planning waste collection and community care). The statistics feed into the Development Plans produced by councils and other Planning Authorities, which include assessments of housing need and demand both at present and for the future. Some councils use the statistics as the baseline for producing their own projections of the future number of households.
The statistics are also employed in land use allocation and planning, and in land use and transport models. Small area statistics on dwellings and households are used by Scottish Water to assess demand for water and sewerage services. They have also been used in risk analysis by Fire and Rescue services, to provide information on housing in rural areas (including second homes and empty dwellings) and to inform projections of the future size of school rolls. In addition, they are often used to produce profiles of small areas to increase local knowledge.
Household estimates are used as the denominator for other statistics, such as the percentage of households receiving benefits. They are also used in various forms of research.
The figures on occupied dwellings are used to measure progress towards Scottish Government Housing and Regeneration Outcomes, via the Housing and Regeneration (HAR) website.
NRS uses household estimates in the production every two years of projections of the future number of households, which are available in 'Household Projections for Scotland' (available on the NRS website). Household estimates and projections (for Scotland and the UK) are used directly and indirectly in the production of certain statistics contained within the Scottish Government's annual Government Expenditure and Revenues Scotland (GERS) publication and the Quarterly National Accounts Scotland (QNAS) releases, both of which can be found on the Scottish Government website.