Housing Statistics 2024: Key Trends Summary

Annual statistics on housing stock by tenure to 31st March 2023, local authority housing management data (relating either to local authority social housing, home ownership, or the private rented sector), and new housing supply data up to 31st March 2024.


New Housing Supply

Housing stock by tenure is available up to March 2023. However, we have more recent data on new housing supply, up to March 2024. New housing supply comprises the following elements:

  • new house building: houses completed by or for housing associations, local authorities, or private developers for market sale, below market rent or low-cost home ownership.
  • rehabilitation: houses acquired by housing associations and refurbished either for rent or low-cost home ownership. Refurbishment of private dwellings funded wholly or partly through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP); and
  • conversion: net new dwellings created by conversion from non-housing to housing use or by alterations to existing dwellings in all tenures.

The total supply of new housing decreased by 3,984 homes (-16.4%) between 2022-23 and 2023-24.

As Chart 3 illustrates, 2023-24 was the lowest total in the past 6 years, except for 2020-21, when the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions impacted housebuilding. New housing supply in 2023-24 was 12% lower than in the pre COVID 19 year of 2019-20 and 26% lower than 2007-08 (before the 2008 financial crisis).

Chart 3: Total supply of new housing in Scotland in 2023-24 was lower than 4 of the previous 5 years.

In 2023-34 new builds accounted for 97.9% (19,943 homes) of the total new housing supply, with 1.8% (364) net conversions, and 0.3% (57 homes) rehabilitations. There was a decrease in new builds (-16%; -3,835 homes), rehabilitations (-50%; -57 homes) and the net number of buildings converted (-20%, -92 homes) in 2023-24 compared with 2022-23.

The components of housing supply within each local authority area for 2023-24 are shown in Chart 4. The proportions of housing supply accounted for by each grouping vary by local authority.

Chart 4: Together Glasgow City, City of Edinburgh, Fife, South Lanarkshire, and West Lothian accounted for 40% of Scotland’s new housing supply.

Further detailed figures are available in the Housing Supply Excel web tables.

Note that this measure of new housing supply does not consider any dwellings removed from the housing stock through demolitions. Annual figures on demolitions are published in the Conversions and Demolitions Excel web tables. However, these demolitions figures are not comprehensive, and we advise that they should be considered as a minimum level of demolition activity in Scotland. This is due to local authorities differing in their ability to provide information on demolitions across tenures other than for local authority housing stock.

Contact

housingstatistics@gov.scot

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