Housing Need Surveys

We carry out Housing Need Surveys when Parish Councils and community groups want to find out information about the housing situation in their area, and to understand the types of accommodation needed.

The housing need survey is tailored to ensure that the questions are specific to the community. The questionnaire is delivered/advertised to a specified location, parish or group and residents usually have around three weeks to respond to the survey. We then process the data and write up the results in a report.

Advantages of Housing Need Surveys

Housing need surveys can:

• Identify additional local housing need that is not currently being recognised by housing registers (some households may not know how to register or be aware that they have to register to be eligible to bid for an affordable property)
• Identify concealed housing need; these are people who are unable to afford to rent or buy a property in their area and are living within another household
• Identify households/individuals who have had to move out of the parish due to difficulties in finding a suitable home locally
• Give local people the opportunity to explain why they are in housing need
• Help the Parish Council understand why there is a local housing need in the parish
• Help find out whether residents would support a small affordable housing scheme
• Raise awareness of this issue in the local community
• Be used alongside the Housing Register as robust evidence by the local planning authority when determining planning applications