Census 2011: Release 3K

Detailed characteristics on Housing and Accommodation in Scotland

The statistics published today by the Registrar General for Scotland on the Scotland’s Census  website present further details on housing and accommodation (Release 3K), from national to local level.

Key points - Release 3K

Living arrangements of full-time students by tenure by age

• At the time of the 2011 Census, just over half (52 per cent) of the 361,000 schoolchildren and full-time students aged 16 and over in Scotland lived with their parents. A further 17 per cent lived in all-student households, 6 per cent lived alone, 10 per cent in a household with their spouse, partner and/or children, 5 per cent in other types of households and 10 per cent in communal establishments such as university halls of residence.
• The proportion of students who lived with their parents decreased with age: it was 96 per cent for those aged 16 or 17 and 10 per cent for those aged 25 and over.
• Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of the 186,000 schoolchildren and full-time students aged 16 and over who lived with their parents were in households that owned their property. In contrast, 87 per cent of the 63,000 people in all-student households lived in private rented accommodation, while this proportion was 56 per cent for the 22,000 students who lived alone. The proportion of students who lived in communal establishments was highest for those aged 18 or 19, at 21 per cent.

Length of residence in the UK by number of rooms

• A total of 348,000 people living in households in Scotland in 2011 were born outside the UK. The proportion of these people in households occupying five or more rooms increased with length of residence in the UK: it was 37 per cent for those resident for less than two years and 66 per cent for those resident for ten years or more.

Tenure by occupancy rating [Footnote 1] by household composition

• In 2011, 9 per cent (214,000) of the 2.4 million household spaces in Scotland had an occupancy rating of -1 or less, implying they were overcrowded based on the notional number of rooms required for the people who lived there. This proportion was 5 per cent (67,000) for households who owned their property, 16 per cent (93,000) for households in social rented accommodation and 17 per cent (54,000) for households in private rented accommodation.
• Of households comprising a family with dependent children, the proportion which were overcrowded was 23 per cent (33,000) for households in social rented accommodation and 17 per cent (13,000) for households in private rented accommodation.
• Just over a third (35 per cent or 17,000) of households in the ‘other household type’ category in private rented accommodation were overcrowded. The corresponding proportion for social rented accommodation was 43 per cent (10,000 households).  (The ‘other household type’ category includes households with two or more usual residents and comprising all-student households,  one family with others – e.g. more than two generations living together - or households of unrelated adults.) 

Household composition by type of central heating in household

• In 2011, 2 per cent of the 2.4 million households in Scotland had no central heating. This proportion was slightly higher for persons aged under 65 living alone (5 per cent) and for all-student households (4 per cent).

Central heating by occupancy rating and ethnic group of Household Reference Person

• In 2011, the proportion of households with no central heating was 5 per cent  for overcrowded households. It was also 5 per cent for households where the Household Reference Person was from a minority ethnic group.

Tables included in Release 3K

All the data contained in this release can be accessed on the Scotland’s Census website.

Footnote

1. Occupancy rating provides a measure of whether a household’s accommodation is overcrowded or under-occupied in relation to the notional number of rooms required by those who live there. An occupancy rating of -1 means that there is one room too few for the people living in the household. In contrast, an occupancy rating of +1 means that there is one room more than required for the people living in the household. The occupancy rating is calculated by subtracting the notional number of rooms required from the actual number of rooms. In deriving the notional number of rooms a household requires, a standard formula is used which takes account of the ages of the household members and their relationships to each other. Further details on the standard formula are provided on the Scotland's Census website.