National and Regional Housing Research
Our regional and national research covers some of the most important issues facing the housing sector today feeding into both policy development and evaluation for a range of statutory organisations.
Expansion of housing choices is a key theme of central government and our research expertise around the intermediate housing market, attitudes to tenure and the role of the private rented sector is being widely used across government departments.
We are the leading agency researching the intermediate housing market. Our current work for the Homes and Communities Agency is a national investigation into the potential demand for government backed affordable housing schemes as well as assessing the future aspirations of those already in the intermediate market. It follows recently completed work for the Greater London Authority looking at public awareness and attitudes to low cost home ownership in London.
Understanding what drives public attitudes to housing is a central remit of the housing futures team at Communities and Local Government. Here our Attitudes to Housing research has been instrumental in identifying the views of the public on the full range of housing tenures with particular focus on priorities for the social rented sector. The growing importance of the private rented sector in meeting housing needs is an emerging issue from this work and is an area we’ve recently been commissioned to research further by the Department for Work and Pensions in partnership with Birmingham and York Universities.
National policy debate has been set against a backdrop of organisational change with the introduction of the new Scottish Housing Regulator and the creation of the Tenant Services Authority in England.
With an increasing emphasis on the importance of tenants as consumers, we have worked for both providing evidence based research to assist as their roles develop. This has included an assessment of the priorities of social housing tenants by the Ipsos MORI Scotland office and research to better understand attitudes to tenant involvement for the TSA.
In partnership with Heriot-Watt University we are also currently analysing and reporting on the results of the 2008 Existing Tenants Survey including multi-level model to identify the drivers of satisfaction across different landlord groups.
Beyond the core theme of housing choice we have extensive experience of conducting research on a much broader range of issues. A selection of our most recent work includes:
Our research for CLG looked at the aspirations to move and barriers for those living in social rented housing.
- Design and sustainability
We have worked for CABE and CLG looking at the importance of design on perceptions of place as well as general public views on space standards in new developments. We have also conducted research, funded by DEFRA, looking at the desirability of sustainable homes among home owners.
- Strategic housing functions
Working with the Chartered Institute of Housing for the IDeA, we assessed the skills requirements needed to help local authorities implement their strategic housing function more effectively.
We have conducted an extensive programme of research for CLG looking at mechanisms to improve access to, and within, the housing market. This has included a baseline study to examine the effectiveness of Home Information Packs, the readiness of the building sector for Energy Performance Certificate legislation and most recently the views of buyers and sellers on provision of condition information.
Following the creation of the Homes and Communities Agency we undertook a perception study among key stakeholders to identify priorities and key communication messages. A further follow-up study has recently been completed to track changes in views since their inception.