North Tyneside Council

We established a close working relationship with our client from the outset, and came up with a detailed project plan with agreed milestones and outcomes.

The methodology involved:
A review and analysis of relevant secondary data and existing research:
We analysed a range of secondary data including existing research, house price information, social rented lettings data, CORE intermediate sales data, population and household projections and economic indicators. This complies with MHCLG good practice guidance, and helped to provide a context for the study.

Stakeholder consultation
We conducted consultation with a wide range of stakeholders to provide a deeper understanding of issues and themes of relevance to the study area. These included representatives from: the local planning authority, housing associations, builders and developers, estate agents, social services, Homes England and others.

This involved an online questionnaire - a highly cost effective way of engaging with a wide range of stakeholders - followed up with telephone and face-to-face discussions where necessary (particularly with estate agents and private developers).

A comprehensive household survey
arc⁴ undertook a comprehensive household survey, providing sub-area data from across North Tyneside to inform the SHMA.

The range of topics covered included:

• Homes, neighbourhood and household (property type, size, tenure, age, length of residence, satisfaction with dwelling and repair, household size, type, age, ethnicity, employment status, workplace, disability, adaptations, help required, older persons’ housing options and equity release, rent or mortgage costs, ability to pay housing costs and gross income)
• Housing history (previous address, tenure, type, size, reasons for moving)
• Future requirements: whole household (preferences and expectations by type, size, tenure, reasons for moving, equity availability, location preferences, registration on choice-based lettings system)
• Future requirements: emerging households (type, size, tenure, location, likely income and access to finance)
• Views on intermediate tenure products and accessing the housing market
• In order to maximise response rates to the survey, we:
• Posted a ‘tried and tested’ questionnaire designed to be easy to read, and which only includes questions of relevance to survey objectives, as agreed with the council
• Provided an 0800 freephone number to deal with queries and provide assistance with completing the questionnaires – this number is also available for out-of-hours enquiries
• Allowed for members of the arc⁴ team to complete surveys on behalf of those respondents who cannot complete the survey due to issues such as poor eye sight or reading skills
• Ensured good publicity through the local media and the council’s website
• Provided an online survey option to be publicised on the council’s website and the outgoing questionnaire
• Suggested a charitable donation in place of a prize draw (prize draws are considered culturally inappropriate for many groups, whereas offering a charitable donation is an acceptable way of increasing the response rate)
• Utilising this information we were able to meet the objectives of the commission and provide the council with a detailed evidence base covering:
• The current housing market: to enhance the council’s understanding of the drivers underpinning the housing market, the balance between supply and demand in different tenures, the interaction between demand for market housing and the need for affordable housing
•  The future housing market: to derive estimates of the scale of future housing demand across the whole housing market, and consider how the current drivers of housing markets could shape future changes in housing demand
• Housing need: to analyse indicators of housing market activity to improve understanding about changes in demand over time, and identify pressure points within the area. The key aim was to identify evidence of failing markets such as volatile or unresponsive markets
• The requirements of different household groups: to identify particular groups that may exert considerable influences within the housing market area or may be ill suited to their dwelling type over the long term. If there are concerns about the housing requirements of specific groups, or good reason to believe that their needs significantly differ to the general population, evidence and analysis is required

We also addressed the following housing issues:

• Welfare reform
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
• Executive homes
• Self build and community land trusts
• Affordable rent
• Private rented sector (including institutional investment)
• Intermediate housing
• Ageing populations
• The needs of specific households (including families, older people, key workers, BME households, gypsies and travellers, students, disabled people and young people with specific needs)
• Homelessness

Future monitoring and updating
Having carried out a comprehensive assessment of overall housing requirements, arc⁴ continued to work closely with the council to suggest ways that the data could be updated and monitored on a regular basis