THE 2023 Scottish house condition survey has been published, revealing that 45% of social properties have disrepair to ‘critical’ elements such as weather tightness and structural stability.
The annual release is a sample survey, which the Scottish Government said means all figures are subject to a degree of uncertainty due to sampling variability. It is a two-part survey combining both an interview with occupants and a psychical inspection of properties, with a sample size of 3,151 dwellings.
Of the 45% of social properties to have disrepair to critical elements, some 16% require urgent repair whilst 2% have extensive disrepair. In 2010, the figure of properties with critical disrepairs stood at 60%.
Meanwhile, the Scottish housing quality standard (SHQS) failure rate was 38%, with failures of the energy efficient criterion being the biggest driver.
Further to this, 27% of all dwellings failed the tolerable standard, with the most common reason being not meeting the satisfactory equipment for detecting and warning in the event of a fire.
In terms of fuel poverty, an estimated 34% (around 861,000 households) were in fuel poverty. This is higher than the 2022 fuel poverty rate of 31%. Of these households, 19.4% were living extreme fuel poverty which is similar to the 18.5% rate in 2022
Commenting on the findings, Scottish Government housing minister Paul McLennan said, “We continue to support vulnerable households within our limited devolved powers, including through our energy efficiency delivery programmes – warmer homes Scotland and area based schemes. We recently announced additional funding of £41 million to help tackle fuel poverty, including £20 million through the Scottish Welfare Fund and an increase of £20 million to the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme. This will help around 1,500 additional households to save an average of £400 per year each on their heating bills.
“However, the levers to make a real difference remain with the UK Government. We continue to urge the UK Government to introduce a social tariff mechanism which is the best way to ensure that energy consumers are protected against high costs and can afford all of their energy needs.
“We take the safety of tenants very seriously and are committed to tackling disrepair in housing, and ensuring good maintenance is given a high priority. We are working with local authorities and other housing providers to ensure people live in warm, dry and safe homes. The number of homes failing the Scottish housing quality standard has reduced from 60% in 2010 to 38% in 2023.”
