Poll finds widespread concern about housing conditions

ONE in ten adults in Scotland – equivalent to 444,000 people – are estimated to believe their current home ‘harms their health’. 

According to a YouGov poll – involving over 2,000 people and commissioned by the housing charity, Shelter Scotland – some five per cent of people in Scotland believe their current home harmed their/their family’s physical health, while eight per cent agreed their current housing situation harmed their/their family’s mental health.

Ten per cent said it either harmed their physical or mental health (or that of their family), and three per cent said their home had a negative impact on both.

Meanwhile, seven per cent of respondents said they were living in overcrowded accommodation, while 11 per cent said they were affected by significant damp, condensation and mould (pictured, from a house in Brechin, Angus). 

Seventeen per cent of people (equivalent to 755,000 people, by Shelter Scotland’s estimation) said they would be unable to heat their home in winter. 

Other findings include:

• 18 per cent of people (equivalent to 799,000 people) said their experiences of finding and keeping a home makes them worry about the likelihood of finding a suitable home in the future;

• seven per cent of people (equivalent to 311,000) said they have had to make unacceptable compromises in order to afford their rent or mortgage – this includes accepting poor conditions and overcrowding; and

• three per cent of renters (equivalent to 133,000 people) said they fear that they will be evicted by their landlord if they ask for repairs to be done.

Source: Shelter Scotland media release, here.

Picture credit: Chris Scott, Dundee Industrial and Commercial Photography Scotland, and Shelter Scotland