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Over a quarter of Scottish households in unfit housing, report finds
Over a quarter of households in Scotland are facing one or more forms of housing need, a report has found.
A survey of 13,690 people found that 28% of households were living in unfit properties, overcrowded accommodation or homes requiring specialist adaptations, or struggling financially as a direct result of high housing costs.
Extrapolated across Scotland, and adding in the 15,000 homeless households living in temporary accommodation, the report said a total of 693,000 households were facing housing hardship.
The report, commissioned by development body Homes for Scotland (HFS) and conducted by Diffley Partnership and Rettie & Co, argued that the Scottish government had significantly underestimated the number of people in housing need.
This is because the Scottish government’s housing need and demand assessment tool only includes those in acute need, such as homeless households in temporary accommodation and overcrowded households that have at least one concealed family.
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HFS suggested that underestimating the true extent of housing need had led to insufficient allocation of land for social, affordable and private house building.
The poll found that 14.9% of respondents had at least one ‘concealed household’, equivalent to 373,000 households across Scotland. A concealed household is an individual or group wishing to move to form their own household, but unable to do so.
A total of 7.5% of households said they were struggling financially due to high housing costs, equivalent to 185,000 households across Scotland.
Meanwhile, 4.9% (123,000 households) were found to be living in overcrowded accommodation and 3.4% (85,000 households) were in properties that required specialised housing adaptation or support, for example disabled access.
Around 3.4% of people were found to be living in ‘unfit’ properties, equivalent to 85,000 Scottish households living in “very poor conditions”.
Last year, three Scottish councils – Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Argyll & Bute – declared housing emergencies.
In December, the Scottish government cut its affordable housebuilding programme by £200m for 2024-25 – a reduction of 26%. Housing associations have warned that ministers’ target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 will be missed as a result.
Jane Wood, chief executive of HFS, said the level of housing need “far exceeds the current calculations” used to determine where and how many homes need to be built in Scotland, adding that “there is simply no excuse for Scotland to continue on this path”.
She said: “We need to create an inclusive and agile housing system; one that meets the needs of all those living in Scotland and which can cope with additional demand caused by unexpected events such as those seeking refuge from war.”
Dr John Boyle, director of research and strategy at Rettie & Co and lead author of the report, said: “Several solutions will be required to resolve the wider need that has been identified, such as bringing empty homes back into use, but it is clear that the building of new homes must play a significant part.”
Scottish housing minister Paul McLennan said the Scottish government has “led the UK” in housing, by delivering 126,396 affordable homes since 2007, more than 89,000 of which were for social rent. He said this was over 40% more affordable homes delivered per head of population than in England, and over 70% more than in Wales.
The minister said the housing sector has done “incredible work to deliver homes” despite inflationary pressures, Brexit impacts and wider market conditions.
He added: “At a time of extreme pressure on housing systems, and with each home now costing more to deliver, we have less to invest because the UK government did not inflation-proof capital allocations.
“We will invest £556m in affordable housing next year to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting acquisitions of existing properties. We will also work with the financial community to attract private sector investment and help deliver more homes.”
