County-wide Survey

County-wide Housing Needs Survey, Summer 2009

As part of a county-wide survey your District Council will soon carry out an important and confidential housing study within the District. Sample households across the District are being asked to take part in a postal survey that will give the District Council up-to-date information about the housing circumstances and aspirations of local people. This information will be used to help the District Council develop its housing and planning policies to best meet these needs in the coming years.

Households will be randomly selected to take part in the survey. It would be very much appreciated if anyone who is selected would spend a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and return it in the prepaid envelope. Your District Council is interested in getting a full range of views, all residents, including home owners, as well as those who rent, whether from a housing association private landlord or District Council. Even if households are not planning to move, the information is important, as it will help to give a balanced picture of housing circumstances in the District.

What are the differences between Rural Parish Housing Needs Survey and County-wide Housing Needs Survey?

The County-wide HNS and Parish HNS questionnaires will ask similar questions but they are not identical and perform different functions.

The difference between Rural Parish Housing Needs Surveys and the County-wide Housing Needs Survey is that the latter involves sending out a housing questionnaire to 8,000 households, chosen at random, in each District Council (a total of 48,000 questionnaires will be sent to households across the County) whereas with a Parish Housing Needs Survey a questionnaire will be sent to every household in a Parish.

The Rural Parish HNS can provide a greater level of detail on a Parish level. The outcomes of a Rural Housing Needs Survey can better inform for local housing needs and support the case of a rural exceptions site type of development.

Whilst the County-wide HNS will provide information across smaller areas (sub-areas) of the District, it will not provide it in detail on a Parish by Parish basis. The County-wide HNS will provide essential primary data which will help the Council develop its housing and planning policies (Housing Strategy, Core Strategy, Local Development Framework, Development Plan Documents etc) to best meet these needs in the coming years.

Any questions should be directed to:

Martin Hutchings
Rural Housing Enabler
Gloucestershire Community Council
Tel: 01452 528491
Email: martinh@grcc.org.uk