RURAL AFFAIRS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE RURAL HOUSING INQUIRY SUBMISSION FROM SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: RURAL HOUSING ENQUIRY As requested in your letter dated 17 January 2007, I am providing you with information on rural parts of the Scottish Borders area. Much of this information comes from the Council’s 2006 Housing Needs Assessment, which can be viewed in full at: www.scotborders.gov.uk//council/departmentsandservices/socialwork/housing strategy/21470.html We are aware that we lack greater information on homelessness in rural areas, and are requesting that we address this issue with our I.T. data supplier in order that we are able to access information on the level of homelessness in each settlement in the Scottish Borders. Population Table 1 shows the population of the main settlements in the Scottish Borders. Generally Scottish rural is defined as a settlement with a population less than 3,000, this means that Eyemouth, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Kelso, Peebles and Selkirk are not classed as rural and for this reason will not be included in this analysis. Table 1 also shows Innerleithen/ Cardrona and Melrose/Darnick/Newstead have a population over 3,000 but these will be included in the rural analysis as they have been grouped, individually they have a population less than 3,000. Duns will also be used in the rural analysis as there a many smaller settlements just outside Duns which have been included in table 1. Table 1: Household Size by Area Average Total Total Area household households population size Duns 2,730 5,967 2.19 Earlston 1,020 2,322 2.28 Eyemouth 2,234 4,842 2.17 Galashiels 7,422 15,273 2.06 Hawick 8,571 16,721 1.95 Innerleithen/ Cardrona 1,546 3,264 2.11 Jedburgh 2,620 5,467 2.09 Kelso 4,677 10,128 2.17 Lauder 882 1,968 2.23 Melrose/Darnick/ 1,957 4,227 2.16 Newtown St Boswells 579 1,168 2.02 Peebles 4,524 10,512 2.32 Selkirk 3,334 7,414 2.22 St Boswells 468 864 1.84 West Linton 1,056 2,670 2.53 Other Rural 9,476 21,828 2.3 Total 53,097 114,636 2.16 Source: Housing Assessment survey 2006 The total number of rural settlements (excluding those from table 1) in the Scottish Borders is 43, as shown in Table 2. Due to rurality of some of these areas the 2001 Census is the most reliable source for populations. Table 2: Population of smaller settlements in the Scottish Borders Romanno Coldstream 1,846 Gattonside 381 Bridge 175 Tweedbank 1,716 Eddleston 335 Leitholm 161 Chirnside 1,204 Reston 335 Ednam 140 Newcastleton 784 Broughton 306 Birgham 139 Bonchester Walkerburn 676 Oxton 270 Bridge 135 Denholm 608 Morebattle 266 Heiton 133 Coldingham 607 Lilliesleaf 246 Skirling 127 Yetholm 606 Swinton 224 Stichill 126 Stow 596 Bowden 223 Preston 115 Greenlaw 586 Burnmouth 220 Ashkirk 107 Ayton 557 Gavinton 201 Blyth Bridge 107 Clovenfords 421 Paxton 195 Foulden 106 Gordon 415 St Abbs 185 Fountainhall 101 Cockburnspath 412 Lanton 100 Ancrum 392 Sprouston 100 Source: 2001 Census Tenure Table 3 shows the tenure profile of rural households in the Scottish Borders by settlement. It clearly shows that the owner occupied sector is the highest tenure followed by social rented and by the private rented sector. West Linton, the Melrose area and other rural settlements have the highest percentage of owner occupiers and the lowest percentage of social rented housing. St Boswells and Newtown St Boswells have the lowest percentage of owner occupiers and the highest percentage of social rented housing. Table 3: Settlement by Tenure (%) Tenure Social rented Owner Private (incl. shared Settlement occupied rented ownership) Other Total Duns 60.9 10.4 25.4 3.3 100 Earlston 70.6 4.8 23.0 1.7 100 Innerleithen/ Cardrona 65.2 2.2 32.2 0.4 100 Lauder 69.7 5 23.5 1.7 100 Melrose/ Darnick/ Newstead 78.3 7.6 11.8 2.4 100 Newtown St Boswells 55.3 3.4 41.3 0.0 100 St Boswells 49.5 0.9 48.8 0.9 100 West Linton 78.0 5.5 14.2 2.3 100 Other Rural 79.9 6.1 12.8 1.3 100 Total 67.4 6.2 24.7 1.7 100 Source: Housing Assessment survey 2006 Table 4 breaks down the tenure profile by Housing Market Area (HMA), there are seven HMAs in the Scottish Borders, below is a list of the HMAs and the main settlements: Berwickshire – Eyemouth, Duns, Coldstream, Chirnside Central – Galashiels, Selkirk, Melrose, Tweedbank, Newtown St Boswells, St Boswells North Ettrick & Lauderdale – Lauder, Stow North Tweeddale – West Linton, Eddleston South Roxburgh – Hawick South Tweeddale – Innerleithen, Peebles, Walkerburn Included in the table are Berwickshire, North Ettrick and North Tweeddale as these areas are made up predominantly of rural settlements. Table 4 clearly shows that North Tweeddale and North Ettrick have high percentages of owner occupiers, and lower levels of social rented housing. Table 4: HMA by tenure (%) Tenure Social rented HMA Total Owner Private (incl. shared occupied rented ownership) Other Berwickshire 67.4 6.9 24.0 1.7 100 North Ettrick 75.8 6.3 14.5 3.4 100 North Tweeddale 78.0 8.4 10.6 2.9 100 Total 67.4 6.2 24.7 1.7 100 Source: Housing Assessment survey 2006 Second Homes Table 5 and Figure 1 shows the number of second homes in the Scottish Borders by postcode district. For analysis only rural postcode districts have been used. TD11 (Duns, Chirnside and Swinton) has the highest number of second homes (94). The TD6 area (Melrose, Newtown St Boswells and St Boswells) also had high levels of second homes (85). The lowest numbers of second homes are in TD3 (Gordon), TD4 (Earlston) and EH38 (Heriot). Table 5: Number of Second Homes in Rural Postcode District Postcode Settlement Second District Homes EH38 Heriot 5 EH43 Walkerburn 16 EH44 Innerleithen, Cardrona 42 EH46 West Linton 15 ML12 Skirling 21 TD2 Lauder, Oxton 15 TD3 Gordon 9 TD4 Earlston 9 Melrose, Newtown St Boswells, St TD6 Boswells 85 TD10 Greenlaw 14 TD11 Duns, Chirnside, Swinton 94 TD12 Coldstream, Leitholm 40 TD13 Cockburnspath 14 TD15 Foulden, Paxton, Hutton 25 Total 404 Source: Council Tax Data (as of Jan 2008) Figure 1: Number of Second Homes in Rural Postcode District (as of Jan 2008) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 EH38 EH43 EH44 EH46 ML12 TD2 TD3 TD4 TD6 TD10 TD11 TD12 TD13 TD15 Source: Council Tax Data Long Term Empty Properties Table 6 and Figure 2 shows the number of long term empty properties in the Scottish Borders by postcode district. A property is defined as being long term empty if it has been empty for six months or longer. As with holiday homes the larger number of empty homes are in TD11 and TD6. The areas with the lowest number of empty homes are in EH26 (Carlops), EH38 TD3, TD4 and TD10 (Greenlaw), with the highest number in the Duns, Chirnside and Swinton area Melrose, Newtown St. Boswells and St Boswells area. Figure 2, below shows that the highest levels of long term empty properties are mainly in the larger towns of Hawick and Galashiels – although as there are more houses in these larger towns it is unsurprising that there will be larger proportions of empty properties in these areas. Table 6: Number of Long Term Empty Properties in Rural Postcode District Postcode Settlement Long Term District Empty EH26 Carlops 1 EH38 Heriot 1 EH43 Walkerburn 15 EH44 Innerleithen, Cardrona 22 EH46 West Linton 11 ML12 Skirling 10 TD2 Lauder, Oxton 16 TD3 Gordon 7 TD4 Earlston 9 Melrose, Newtown St Boswells, St TD6 Boswells 44 TD10 Greenlaw 5 TD11 Duns, Chirnside, Swinton 60 TD12 Coldstream, Leitholm 19 TD13 Cockburnspath 11 TD15 Foulden, Paxton, Hutton 15 Total 246 Source: Council Tax Data (as of Jan 2008) Figure 2: Number of Long Term Empty Properties in Rural Postcode District (as of Jan 2008) Source: Council Tax Data Dwelling Type Table 7: Dwelling type by settlement (%) Type of Dwelling Settlement Semi- Flat/ Mobile/ Total Detached Terraced detached maisonette temporary Duns 27.6 33.3 24.9 13.8 0.3 100 Earlston 26.8 31.3 29.5 12.4 0.0 100 Innerleithen/ Cardrona 25.9 14.0 26.6 33.6 0.0 100 Lauder 40.2 35.9 18.8 5.1 0.0 100 Melrose/ Darnick/ Newstead 39.9 32.8 11.3 16.0 0.0 100 Newtown St Boswells 5.3 53.0 36.4 5.3 0.0 100 St Boswells 15.4 31.5 36.2 16.1 0.9 100 West Linton 52.6 13.5 25.9 7.8 0.3 100 Other Rural 44.7 28.1 21.9 5.1 0.2 100 Total 28.3 24.1 23.2 24.2 0.1 100 Source: Housing Assessment survey 2006 Table 7 shows the different house types in the rural Scottish Borders. The type of housing is varied throughout the Scottish Borders. Detached properties are most common in West Linton (52.6%), Other Rural (44.7%), and Lauder (40.2%). Semi-detached properties are most common in Duns (33.3%), Earlston (31.3%) and Newtown St Boswells (53%). Terraced properties are most common in Newtown St. Boswells (36.4%) and St. Boswells (36.2%). Flats and maisonettes are most common in the Innerleithen/ Cardona area with (33.6%).