Scotland Census 2022: Numbers in private rented homes on the rise

The latest release of figures from the 2022 census showed there were 887,600 households in rented accommodation in Scotland.

Social rented homes, such as council or housing association properties, were down to 564,500, a drop of 11,900 from the figure in the 2011 census.

However, there was a big increase in households renting privately, up 28,200 to 323,000.

The data also showed there were 2,509,300 households in total, up 136,500 (5.8%) from the 2011 census. Figures previously released from the census have shown an increase in the number of people living alone.

On Census Day around two-thirds (63.2%) owned their home (1,585,800 households) and one third rented.

The number of households that owned their home outright increased to 851,100, almost 200,000 more than 2011 and 340,000 more than 2001.

National Record of Scotland, who released the data, said the majority of the increase was due to increases in older age groups.

Older homeowners are likely to have had longer to pay off their mortgage.

There were 135,200 more householders aged 65 and over who owned their home outright in 2022, compared to 2011.

Other data in the census suggested 70.3% of households had more bedrooms than required and just under one-third had at least two more bedrooms than they needed.

Island council areas tended to have more households with two more bedrooms than required while Glasgow and Dundee had the most overcrowding.