Scots have limited knowldege of their housing options according to new opinion poll
27 September 2016
More needs to be done to promote self build in Scotland according to the results of an opinion poll commissioned to coincide with the first official Scottish Housing Day.
The survey, undertaken by Progressive Partnership in conjunction with YouGov, revealed that the Scottish public know very little about their housing options beyond buying with a mortgage and private and social renting.
A total sample of 1,046 adults were surveyed online – results are weighted to be representative of all Scottish adults (aged 18+). 71% of respondents said they knew “nothing” or “very little” about Help to Buy schemes and self-build opportunities.
In addition, the survey results showed significant regional variations in people’s preferences when it came to housing tenures they might consider. For example, the proportion of adults considering buying with a mortgage varied considerably between regions, being as high as 62% in the Lothians and as low as 32% in the Central region. There was notably strong interest in self-build in the Highlands and Islands where 28% of people said they would consider this option.
Commenting on the survey, Kevin Stewart, Scottish Government Minister for Housing and Local Government said: “This poll shows that people could be missing out because they don’t know and understand the range of affordable housing options that are open to them.”
“We are committed to making sure everyone has access to a warm, good quality home which is why we are investing £3 billion and have set the ambitious target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes, with 35,000 of these being for social rent, over the lifetime of this Parliament. We are also supporting people into home ownership with our £500 million Help to Buy (Scotland) and open market shared equity schemes.”
Self Build in Scotland
Scotland has a rich history of self build, which is set to continue thanks to inspiring new developments such Maryhill in Glasgow. The project is set to bring a mix of custom and self build housing to the area as part of its wider regeneration. Find out more about the development here.
Other well known Scottish developments include Duneland Ecovillage in the North West and Beauly in the Highlands. The former is a custom build cohousing project comprising 25 attractive eco-homes, plus ten serviced building plots, and a terrace of six homes. Construction began in 2012 and the first homes were occupied in March 2014.
The development at Beauly features 10 affordable self builds enabled by the Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT). The Trust has, for many years, provided serviced self-build plots to low-income households in rural areas across the North of Scotland.
