Two housing sectors, both alike in dignity...

A new year provides a time for reflection and the potential for a reset of ideas. It is a time to challenge current thinking and present new ways to progress. With this in mind the latest Scottish Housing Survey – issued just before Christmas – provides some clarity on what real Scots think about the current state of housing.

What the data shows is that the private rented sector (PRS) – far from directly replacing social housing – serves a completely different market. The survey reveals that people living in the PRS are much younger, are better off, and more mobile than those in social housing. They are employed full time or are self-employed, they travel more for work, they are more likely to come from another culture and they are not seeking a lifelong home in the PRS but are living in the sector for more short-term convenience, for lifestyle and for practical reasons.

The social housing sector is much more likely to be occupied by older people, seeking a permanent home in the sector, who are not working or seeking work, may be looking after an elderly or sick relative, and who probably come from the area they are currently living in.

The two sectors are ideally positioned to exist in tandem, working together rather than against each other. They are both essential but serve very different needs and there is no evidence from this, or any other survey, to show that one is undermining the other.

Indeed, they need each other to service the diverse array of people who make up modern Scotland.

Policies which seek to undermine, or demonise, the PRS in the belief that social housing can service all tenants’ needs are therefore not only superfluous and uninformed, but actually damaging to the wellbeing of tenants in Scotland.

It is also telling that tenants in the private rented sector are much more contented with their homes than those in social housing. They are more likely to feel their home is affordable, in an area they like, and somewhere they want to live than their counterparts in social housing.

The PRS can be for life, but it is less likely to be a permanent solution for many people.

For young working people it is the ideal option to live somewhere they want to live which is close to work and leisure activities and these are generally homes that the under-35s are likely to choose.

For older, more settled individuals, with lower incomes, seeking a permanent home the social housing sector is likely to be the best option.

This highlights that we need a housing system which works in harmony with its constituent parts to ensure that there are enough homes which cater for all aspects of Scottish life, providing homes where people want to live, in groups that match their lifestyles and aspirations, and at prices that they can afford given their economic status.

The assumption that social housing is good and private housing is bad is a false and unrealistic notion and we must, in 2025, start to realistically address the very real housing issues that such thinking has caused and will continue to cause unless it is immediately addressed.