Social Tenants In Scotland, 2016 - Housing Costs And Income

13th February 2018

Housing Costs and Income-2.

The average weekly rent for a social sector property in Scotland in 2016/17 was £74.44, an increase of 2.1% on the previous year. Housing association rents averaged £80.28 per week, 16% higher than local authority rents of £69.20.

68% of social rented households in 2016 had a net income of £20k or less, which compares to 45% of private rented households, 45% of households owned outright and 16% of households buying with a mortgage.

Across the period 2013/14 to 2015/16, social rented households in Scotland spent an average of 24% of their net income on housing costs. This figure compares to equivalent figures of 25% for private rented households, 9% for households owning their property with a mortgage and 3% for households owning their property outright. (Note that housing costs include rent gross of housing benefit, as well as water rates and service charges where applicable. Net income relates to all household income after personal taxes and council tax have been netted off. See Section 5 of the publication for further details of how this percentage figure has been calculated).

32% of social rented households in Scotland spent more than 30% of their net income on housing costs in the period 2013/14 to 2015/16, lower than the equivalent figures of 50% for England and 46% for Wales.

61% of social rented households received housing benefit in 2016, with a further 1% receiving the housing element of universal credit. This compares to 23% of private rented sector households receiving housing benefit, with a further 1% receiving the housing element of universal credit.

For households claiming housing benefit, social rented households had on average 94% of the value of their housing costs covered by housing benefit (calculation based on a median ratio figure), which compares to 84% for private rented households.

In 2016, 31% of social rented households in Scotland stated that they managed well financially, an increase from 21% in 1999.

The full statistical publication is available online -

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/02/9862