SSAMIS: Housing

Between 2013 and 2017, the Social Support and Migration in Scotland (SSAMIS) project interviewed over 200 migrants and 60 experts across Scotland, focusing their work on Aberdeen City and rural Aberdeenshire.

Although some issues were migrant-specific, others reflect more general problems of local authority housing provision (e.g. long waiting lists) and the private rental sector (e.g. irresponsible landlords; long-term tenant insecurity). The negative impact of such issues were often magnified for migrants due to low levels of English and a lack of knowledge of the local context. Migrants were often unaware of their rights or where to go for help, and with smaller social networks, they had less informal support when facing difficult circumstances.

New arrivals often had difficulty understanding the rental market, and they often stayed with friends or family on arriving in Scotland, before looking for private rental or social housing. Many offered rooms temporarily to others once they were more established in Aberdeen/shire. They had mixed experiences with neighbours: not many instances of racism, but where relationships with neighbours broke down, this was often exacerbated by a lack of inter-cultural understanding on both sides, e.g. of norms around parking, loud music, parties, etc.

There were mixed experiences here: some spoke positively despite living in cramped communal living arrangements, whereas others faced many problems with landlords.
Landlords were often reluctant to let to families with children, and they sometimes exploited
migrants’ lack of knowledge, for example walking into flats without prior permission, not returning security deposits, etc. Housing conditions were often substandard, with damp, mould or severe draughts, and security was an issue in some HMO properties, where rooms were rented out individually. Helping out family and friends was very common, but could lead to temporary overcrowding.

High demand was an issue across the region: in Aberdeen, migrants complained about being given social housing in areas of multiple deprivation; in Aberdeenshire, high demand for housing in towns meant a choice between social housing in small, rural villages, or staying in
privately rented accommodation for several years waiting for a town property to become available. Rural living could be seen as positive (e.g. quiet, secluded), but could also compound typical migrant problems such as social isolation. There was little ESOL support in rural areas and very limited opening hours for public spaces such as libraries. Public transport could be patchy, especially for those needing to work atypical hours/shift patterns in factories.

Both migrants and expert interviewees noted a common perception (though no evidence) that the housing queues were run unfairly – that particular nationalities or types of people would to ‘jump the queue’ or receive favourable treatment. This was usually due to a misunderstanding of pointsbased systems which prioritise certain demographics.

Many migrants considered buying a house a long-term goal, typically requiring being settled and established in a reliable job for several years. However, financial issues and high housing costs often kept this goal out of reach. In general, migrants who had bought property said it was fairly straightforward. Some with low levels of English received help from local, hourly-paid interpreters/advisors; others drew on local contacts made through their jobs. Experts working in Aberdeen City spoke about a growing number of Polish HMO landlords who rented properties to other migrants.

In the early EU accession period (c.2004-2007), agencies would bring migrants to Scotland and promise that housing would be sorted out, but sometimes this was poor quality and overcrowded. This scenario has become less common in recent years, with housing being
run more responsibly by the companies involved. Agricultural workers were more likely to live in employer-provided accommodation; seasonal fruit-pickers in Aberdeenshire tended to live in on-site caravans of varying quality. Experts described situations where employers demanded significant deposits and charged for accommodation through wages, leaving workers very little actual pay.

More information, including briefing papers on a range of topics, is available on the SSAMIS website: Link.