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Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2009
1. Key findings
Overall household change
- In mid-2009, there were 2.34 million households in Scotland – around 300,000 more than in 1991.
- The number of households in Scotland has been increasing by between 11,000 and 23,000 each year since 1991. Over the last year, there has been an increase of 13,200 households (0.6 per cent).
- The rate of growth has slowed in the past two years. From 2004 to 2009, the average yearly increase in households was 19,100. The rise from 2008 to 2009 was the lowest in the last five years.
- The number of households has increased since 2008 in every council area except Argyll and Bute (where it remained the same). Since 2004, there has been an overall increase in the number of households in all areas apart from Inverclyde (where it fell slightly). The area with the greatest increase over the last five years has been Highland (8.3 per cent).
- Since 1991 Scotland’s population has increased by over two per cent. However the number of households has increased at a far greater rate (by almost 15 per cent) because the average household size is getting smaller, with more people living alone and in smaller households.
Council Tax bands
- The Council Tax band of a dwelling reflects the Assessor’s opinion of the open market value, based on the actual selling prices of similar properties which sold around the valuation date of 1 April 1991.
- Accessible rural areas tend to have the smallest proportion of dwellings in the lower Council Tax bands (bands A-C).
- Almost all (95 per cent) dwellings in the most deprived areas are in the lower Council Tax bands, compared to just 13 per cent in the least deprived areas.
Dwelling type
- There are higher proportions of flats in urban areas and in more deprived areas. In contrast, there are higher proportions of detached houses in rural areas and in less deprived areas.
- The three island authorities have the highest percentages of detached dwellings (at least 58 per cent of all dwellings in these areas, compared to 21 per cent for Scotland as a whole).
Vacant dwellings and second homes
- Across Scotland as a whole, 2.9 per cent of dwellings are vacant and 1.4 per cent are second homes, though there is wide variation across the country.
- Remote rural areas have the lowest percentage of dwellings which are occupied (88 per cent), with higher percentages of vacant dwellings (4.5 per cent of all dwellings in these areas) and second homes (7.3 per cent).
- In the most deprived areas of Scotland 4.5 per cent of all dwellings are vacant. In other areas the figures vary between 1.7 and 3.8 per cent, with the proportion of vacant dwellings generally falling in less deprived areas.
Single adult households
- 38 per cent of dwellings in Scotland are entitled to a ‘single adult’ Council Tax discount. This category includes one adult living alone or with children, or with other people who are ‘disregarded’ for Council Tax purposes.
- The proportion of dwellings entitled to a ‘single adult’ discount is higher in urban areas (42 per cent in large urban areas compared to 29 per cent in rural areas) and in deprived areas (52 per cent in the most deprived areas compared to 28 per cent in the least deprived areas).
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