RURAL AFFAIRS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

RURAL HOUSING INQUIRY

SUBMISSION FROM COUNCIL

Rural housing inquiry – Highland Statistics March 2008

Information has been compiled as requested where data is available.

It is not possible to extract the requested statistical information for rural areas only. Based on the Scottish Government definition that defines “rural” as involving all settlements of less than 3,000, wards have been colour coded to highlight those which are a) rural; b) made up of rural settlements and c) small towns.

Other data is only available at present by the ex-management (and ex-District Council) areas which comprise both urban and rural areas. It should be recognised that homelessness may occur in rural areas but manifest itself as a homeless application in urban areas such as , etc. It is not possible to estimate hidden homelessness.

Table 1 – Tenure, Second and Empty Homes, Density Code: green = rural; yellow = part small town / part rural; blank = urban / small town 2nd_ LA or Other hom Pop housing rent e.g. e Densi owner assoc private rent holid Ward Name ty all hholds occ % % % free ay vacant North, West and Central 1 1.2 2,776 62.7 19.0 10.3 8.1 18.3 4.8 East Sutherland and 5 5.2 3,371 63.6 22.1 8.6 5.8 8.2 5.0 2 Thurso 660 3,538 60.2 32.6 4.8 2.5 0.7 3.2 3 Wick 285 3,375 58.8 34.1 3.1 4.0 0.6 4.3 4 Landward 6.3 4,116 70.6 16.7 8.1 4.6 3.5 6.4 7 27.3 4,831 52.4 38.6 5.1 3.8 0.6 3.8 8 and Easter Ross 31.5 3,660 62.0 24.9 8.7 4.3 3.4 4.2 , Strathpeffer and 6 2.3 4,980 67.8 15.8 10.4 6.0 19.0 3.9 11 Eilean a' Cheò 5.4 4,033 69.3 17.5 9.0 4.2 13.0 5.0 9 Dingwall and Seaforth 129 4,565 66.1 24.3 5.9 3.7 0.6 2.4 10 33.8 3,739 77.3 10.5 8.1 4.1 3.2 3.5 12 3.7 3,360 60.8 26.1 8.1 5.0 9.4 2.9 Fort William and 22 4.4 4,702 58.4 27.7 9.0 4.9 11.6 4.0 14 586 3,575 73.9 17.5 6.2 2.3 0.4 2.7 15 3,040 6,373 50.3 33.0 11.8 4.9 0.8 5.5 16 Inverness Ness-Side 912 4,453 74.2 16.9 6.4 2.5 0.8 2.7 17 Inverness Millburn 1,085 3,508 71.2 15.4 10.7 2.8 0.5 4.0 18 Culloden and Ardersier 62.5 4,505 72.9 15.9 8.4 2.8 1.6 3.5 20 18.8 2,551 84.0 5.6 6.9 3.5 2.3 2.9 13 Aird and Loch Ness 4.0 4,003 72.4 11.0 11.8 4.7 9.4 4.6 19 Nairn 31.7 4,461 67.1 21.0 8.8 3.1 1.9 4.5 and 21 Strathspey 5.3 5,054 65.7 16.7 12.1 5.5 16.5 3.5 Highland 8.1 89,528 65.7 21.6 8.5 4.2 6.2 4.0 65.7 2,192,246 62.6 27.2 6.7 3.5 1.3 3.8

Table 2 Need for Additional Social Rented Housing Each Year from 2003 to 2008 and Percentage of households in significant housing need in 2003 – Highland Housing Needs Study, DTZ Pieda 2003 Area Annual Additional % age of households in social units needed to significant housing meet housing need need Badenoch & Strathspey 65 4 Caithness - 3 Inverness 415 7 177 3 Nairn 79 5 East Ross/Black Isle* 314 6 Skye & Lochalsh 130 12 Sutherland - 3 Wester Ross - 8 Highland 9981 6 *The 2003 Study split Ross & Cromarty into 2 housing market areas

For the components of need in different areas and tenures please refer to pages 117 onwards in the Highland Housing Needs Assessment Report 2003 available via this link. This also includes an explanation of significant housing need. http://www.highland.gov.uk/livinghere/housing/housingstrategiesandinitiatives/housi ngneedsassessment.htm

1 This is not a sum of the figures shown above. The Highland Housing Needs Study report, explains the figures. Affordable Housing Pressure

Tables 3 and 4 show that in the vast majority of Highland’s areas (and Wards), the ratio of lets to applicants is far higher than the national average of 5-6 applicants to each let. In many of Highland’s small rural communities, the pressure is even greater.

Table 3 Housing Pressure – No. of Waiting List Applicants waiting for each Highland Council House vacancy – 2001 & 2007 2001 2007 Pressure Pressure Applicants Highland Ratio - No. Applicants Highland Ratio - No. on the Council of people on the Council of people Council Lets waiting for Council Lets waiting for Area of Waiting (2000- each Waiting List (2006- each Highland List only* 2001) vacancy only* 2007) vacancy Badenoch & Strathspey 414 48 9 599 33 18 Caithness 409 272 2 538 213 3 Inverness 2400 350 7 3480 247 14 Lochaber 684 86 8 1168 79 15 Nairn 402 43 9 457 34 13 Ross & Cromarty 1224 275 4 1955 185 11 Skye & Lochalsh 402 45 9 609 25 24 Sutherland 218 110 2 360 86 4 Highland 6153 1229 5 9166 902 10 *Note: Demand for social housing is, in reality, higher as the above figures don’t include applicants on the Council’s transfer list or applicants on housing association lists.

Table 4 Applicants for Council Housing Compared to Council Housing Lets by Ward

Council Number of Waiting & No. of Ward Housing Lets in Transfer List Applicants no. Ward and Area Stock 5 07 06/07 Applicants 5 07 for each Let

Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross 1 North, West & Central Sutherland 420 43 159 4 5 East Sutherland & Edderton 574 51 264 5 2 Thurso 619 75 390 5 3 Wick 985 131 202 2 4 Landward Caithness 633 83 152 2 7 Cromarty Firth 1358 96 737 8 8 Tain & Easter Ross 625 51 398 8 Ross, Skye and Lochaber 6 Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh 487 28 497 18 9 Dingwall & Seaforth 882 46 706 15 10 Black Isle 325 15 293 20 11 Eilean A' Cheo 373 27 505 19 12 Caol & Mallaig 554 27 466 17 22 Fort William & Ardnamurchan 795 106 855 8 Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch & Strathspey

Inverness (all Wards) 3795 310 3768 12 13 Aird & Loch Ness 324 14 476 34 19 Nairn 654 43 525 12 21 Badenoch & Strathspey 528 42 650 15 Highland total 13931 1188 11043 9

Table 5 Homeless Applications by Area and Year %age applying in each area 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 06/07 Badenoch & Strathspey 55 71 109 77 55 69 3% Caithness 35 46 44 77 76 91 4% Inverness 281 509 871 1090 1225 1062 49% Lochaber 195 277 284 281 259 300 14% Nairn 33 65 118 103 107 121 6% Ross & Cromarty 310 309 481 500 533 372 17% Skye & Lochalsh 76 99 131 140 157 150 7% Sutherland 3 9 12 25 22 24 1% Highland 988 1385 2050 2293 2434 2189 100%

Other information

Fuel poverty is a significant issue in the rural areas of Highland, as these statistics demonstrate, due to a number of factors including lack of gas network; predominance of hard to heat and treat property types (such as stone walls, 11/2 storey houses); poor rural house conditions (as demonstrated in the Scottish House Condition Survey) and high proportion of private rented housing (again shown to be of poorer quality and far less likely to be energy efficient or have central heating.

Scottish House Condition Survey (2002) Highland Scottish Highland rating Finding % of households Average (Out of 32 LAs) NHER rating 0 – 2 (i.e. very low) 16% 8% 28th NHER rating 1 - 5 ƒ Private sector 57% 37% 27th ƒ Public sector 17% 12% 31st Full Central Heating 76% 87% 28th Partial Central Heating 20% 8% 30th Perceived difficulty heating home 33% 31% 25th Households in fuel poverty 2002 definition 21% 13% 28th Households in extreme fuel poverty 7% 3% Not known

Housing Market – Prices and Affordability Extract from Highland’s Housing Strategy update 2007 House prices in Highland, as in Scotland, have been rising dramatically since 2001 and are continuing to rise – prices rose across Highland2 by 106% between 2002 and the start of 2007. This is greater than growth experienced elsewhere in Scotland – they rose by 72% over Scotland as a whole. This graph (Figure 1) highlights the growth pattern in Highland – showing the increase from a median house price of £40,000 in 1990 to £136,000 in 2006.

Figure 1: Median Price of All Open Market House Sales in Highland 1990 - 2006, by Year

£150,000

£100,000

£50,000

£0

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Prices and growth have not been consistent across Highland as the figure below, which presents median house prices in each of the 22 Highland wards, shows3. In 2006 the lowest median prices were in Wick (£65k), Thurso (£75k) and Landward Caithness (£100k) and the highest were in the Black Isle (£185k) , Aird & Loch Ness (£178k) and Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh (£165k). Between 2004 and 2006 the smallest price increase were in Caol and Mallaig (£1k), Thurso (£9k) and Wick (£15k) while the largest were in North, West & Central Sutherland (£64k), Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh (£58k) and Black Isle (£50k). Taken overall, the figures show that the greatest pressure on house prices has been in the rural commuter belt to Inverness and in the remote rural areas where a move is often a lifestyle choice.

2 Nationwide Quarterly Regional Review in Scottish Housing Market Review, 2007, Scottish Executive 3 3 More information from the Council’s Policy & Information Briefing Notes at www.highland.gov.uk Figure 2: Median House Prices

£200,000 £70,000 £180,000 £60,000 £160,000 £140,000 £50,000

£120,000 £40,000 £100,000 £80,000 £30,000

£60,000 £20,000 and2004 2006 £40,000

£10,000 Price Increase Between 2006 Median House Price £20,000 £0 £0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122H S Ward Number

2006 Median Price Price Increase 2004 to 2006

Ward Names N, W, & Central 1 Sutherland 2 Thurso 3 Wick 4 Landward Caithness 5 E. Sutherland & Edderton W. Ross, Strathpeffer & 6 Lochalsh 7 Cromarty Firth 8 Tain & Easter Ross 9 Dingwall & Seaforth 10 Black Isle 11 Eilean A' Cheo 12 Caol & Mallaig 13 Aird & Loch Ness 14 Inverness West 15 Inverness Central 16 Inverness Ness-Side 17 Inverness Millburn 18 Culloden & Ardersier 19 Nairn 20 Inverness South 21 Badenoch & Strathspey Fort William & 22 Ardnamurchan

House price increases have had an impact on affordability– comparisons of incomes against house prices show that Highland is one of the least affordable authorities in Scotland. This is likely to be mainly due to households moving in from outwith Highland, pushing up prices and making housing more unaffordable to local residents4. In addition, there is increasing demand from ‘buy-to-let’ purchasers who are adding to the competition. The number of first time buyers is decreasing as people are finding it more difficult to get on the housing ladder. High prices mean that buyers are paying more of their income towards their mortgages. Low earners face the greatest difficulties – it is estimated that around 18% of working households who are not eligible for benefit are unable to buy housing, even at the bottom end of the market5. Many of these households may also be unlikely to access social rented housing as pressures from households in high housing need continue to increase.

Further Information

More statistics and information is available on ’s website e.g. http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcouncil/highlandfactsandfigures/

Highland Council 19 March 2008

4 Scottish Housing Market Review, 2007, Scottish Executive 5 Scottish Housing Market Review, 2007, Scottish Executive