Poll respondents put dampener on their own communities

OVER half of 1,200 Scots surveyed in a poll about what makes a thriving community have responded by saying they believe their own community is not faring that well.

The poll – revealed yesterday at the Scottish Housing Festival, run by the Chartered Institute of Housing – also noted that a sense of feeling safe (89 per cent of respondents identified this), access to shops and other businesses (85 per cent), access to public transport (83 per cent), access to ‘high-quality’ spaces (76 per cent) and a variety of housing types and tenures (57 per cent) are key to what makes a thriving community.

But the poll – commissioned by housing association, Places for People Scotland – further revealed that 56 per cent of respondents did not believe their community is “currently thriving”, with a very modest 13 per cent of them agreeing that their community is “equipped to manage the ‘cost of living’ crisis”.

Says a media release issued by Places for People Scotland: “The survey was designed by Diffley Partnership and invitations were issued online using the ScotPulse panel. Results are based on a survey of 1,199 respondents. Fieldwork was conducted between February 3-6 2023. Results are weighted to the Scottish population by age and gender.”

The same release describes Places for People Scotland as “one of the country’s leading providers of affordable, quality homes. Formerly known as Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association, PfPS is one of Scotland’s leading charitable housing associations. In Scotland, PfPS own and manage around 8,500 homes for almost 10,500 customers”.

Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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