Good Practice in assessing local housing need

Good practice in undertaking housing needs surveys and assessments
Practice guidance issued by the government (Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions (DETR) in 2000 has largely disappeared off the radar of consultants, rural enablers, planning consultants, local authorities and planning inspectors.
As a consequence, there is virtually no consistency between those undertaking housing needs surveys (HNS) and assessments (HNA) or evaluating them. The guidance was commissioned by the government specifically to address such inconsistencies.
When published by the government in 2000, it represented the culmination of academic and practitioner methodology and experience. Leading academics and consultants shared best practice leading to a methodology that was widely accepted as robust, reliable and practical. 

In 2022 the Planning Inspector, in allowing the appeal APP/F2415/W/22/3300240, stated in paragraph 14 of his report:

"The 2022 survey was commissioned in order to overcome the Council’s concerns with the 2021 survey. It was a more detailed survey of housing needs than its predecessors and carried out by an independent and reputable organisation (CNB Housing Insights). It followed established government practice guidance (Housing needs assessments: a guide to good practice DETR, 2000) regarding housing needs surveys and assessments as well as relevant aspects of the Framework."

6 important issues raised within the guidance are in our experience either ignored or misunderstood by practitioners and local authorities. These are very important factors that if ignored, will result in a fundamentally inaccurate assessment of local need.
6 common misconceptions or omissions to housing needs surveys and housing needs assessments
Anyone seeking to commission a housing needs survey or assessment should satisfy themselves that the contractor takes various key points into account. The best way of doing this is to look at examples of their work.

1. Housing needs surveys (HNS) are usually not definitive assessments of levels of housing need locally
2. Housing registers are not definitive either

The guidance is clear about this and states that housing needs survey reports should cross reference a number of data sources to arrive at the best estimate of need.

3. Housing need should be expressed as an annual flow of households in need 
4. The Basic Needs Assessment Model (BNAM) should be used to measure this flow which also takes supply into account

Any report that states the level of need or supply as a finite number would be incorrect. The factors that define a household as being in housing need or in need of affordable housing are clearly stated in the guidance. These factors are core content for any survey questionnaire. Demand and supply should be measured on a like for like basis (see point 5 below).

5. Statistical adjustments should be made where possible to compensate for non-responses to the household survey

The process of data weighting should only be undertaken by trained experts. This cannot be applied to parishes with small numbers of households. But for larger parishes and towns, a fair comparison can only be made between supply and vacancies if data weighting is applied. Without data weighting, you would be comparing an underestimate of the flow of households in need with a flow of supply which is a known quantity.  

6. Mismatch between the characteristics of local households and the stock of local housing matters

Most strategic estimates of households in need conducted by local authorities in accordance with the NPPF are based on forecasts of demographic and economic change. This is why you cannot assess the level of need locally from local authority level numbers pro rata. Local housing needs surveys and housing needs assessments need to take account of local affordability (house prices and household incomes), the characteristics of the housing stock (which in rural areas tend to be predominately larger more expensive housing), and the characteristics of households (often older people under occupying such housing). These are structural ‘mismatch’ factors that result in a lack of suitable housing that can be afforded by newly forming households or more frail older people that need to move to more suitable housing.

Overall, failure to address any of the above issues in housing needs surveys and assessments would render them not fit for purpose. CNB Housing Insights can demonstrate full compliance to every aspect of this detailed practice guidance. 

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