Lettingstats Autumn 2014 Report Published
December saw the publication of the Lettingstats Autumn 2014 Report. This covered a number of topics, including providing granular data on the PRS, data from our tenant survey and presentation of census data on families in the PRS.
To download a free summary of the full report, click here. To request a copy of the full report, please click here.
Dan Cookson, Lettingweb’s Head of Research, explains more:
Our Autumn Report contains the usual mix of rental and sales market analysis across Scotland, industry commentary, as well as detailed analysis of recently
published Census data. For those interested in a detailed methodology check out our previous summer report here.
The end of the consultation on the prospective new tenancy system is near and it is pleasing to see how the wider industry has come together during this period and responded to the Government’s call to back up its position with evidence. I hope this short report plays a part in building that evidence base. From our perspective weak enforcement of current legislation enables pockets of poor behaviour to continue. A new form of tenancy will not necessarily resolve these problems.
We also look at the Scottish Government’s own private rental statistics which are a very welcome addition for the sector, as they provide a robust and trusted source of information which complements, and to some extent validates, our own analysis.
In our Agent section we have insights from three very experienced players as well as a profile of the new and innovative Homes for Good agency which is run as a social enterprise.
And last but not least we also include some of the initial findings of our recently completed Lettingstats Tenant Survey 2014. It exceeded all our expectations in terms of response rate. Maybe it was the time of year and the lure of an iPad Mini3 which encouraged so many to take part. Either way we are extremely grateful to the more than 8,000 respondents who took time to complete the 35 questions and have helped us compile a very useful resource for the industry. We will be sharing the general findings more widly and also provide various cross-tabulations
and geographic breakdowns for clients.
Do get in touch with me directly if you would like to discuss. A recent data release this November Census Release was particularly important as it allowed us, for the first time to explore where families with children in the PRS live or to be more precise lived on Census night 27th March 2011.
Given that there were various estimates made of the proportion of families in the PRS during the recent housing debate in Holyrood – see transcript here – we felt it would be useful to produce a definitive interactive map showing precisely where these families are.
In summary the numbers of families with dependent children living in PRS was: 83,057 which equates to 25.5% of all PRS households. At the time of the 2001 Census these equivalent figures were 41,400 and 23.6%.
The interactive map highlights couples with dependent children in the PRS and shows a very broad geographic spread. The charts below show counts of PRS households by Deprivation Rank and are very evenly distributed across every deprivation decile from the most deprived (1) to the least (10). This profile bears no resemblance to the grim picture of the PRS so often painted by lobbyists, politicians and the media. It is evidently not a poverty stricken tenure of last resort but more a fully dispersed and integrated housing option for all.
The recently published Scottish House Condition Survey 2013 backs this up and shows that income in the PRS is almost identical to the ‘owned outright’ tenure group.
