Recent and current projects include:

Housing Vision has now completed or contributed to over 90 projects and the following are recent and representative examples of our work:

Masterplanning the former coal mining community of Askern, Doncaster

Client: Doncaster MBC

Partners: John Thompson and Partners in association with Alan Baxter & Associates and Kim Sangster Associates

Located within the ‘Transform South Yorkshire’ Housing Market Renewal Area, this project was intended to provide Doncaster MBC and its regeneration partners with an innovative masterplan and spatial strategy to guide future investment in Askern, fully supported by the local community. There were four elements to the approach, understanding the importance of context and location; articulating the vision through genuine and effective stakeholder and community engagement; promoting social sustainability; and developing a creative and viable solution to encourage future investment.

Housing Vision’s involvement was to provide a housing market assessment for the area to identify the options available for intervention. The assessment covered four main areas:

The current housing market;
The future housing market;
Housing needs; and
The housing requirements of different groups.

'Growth Area' Housing Market Assessments for Kettering Borough Council

Client: Kettering BC

Completion: February 2009

Located within a Growth Area, this project has provided the Council with independent advice against which to consider developer proposals for large scale residential development in four settlements including Kettering. A series of Housing Market Assessments have focused on eight key questions:

What is the strategic and policy context?
How can we define the relevant Housing Market Area?
Who lives in the target area?
How might this change, and what are the implications for determining the future need and demand for housing in the area?
What choices do consumers have in the local housing market?
What are the gaps in the pattern of supply and how affordable is local housing?
What is the projected future need for housing in the area?
What are the implications of the assessment and analysis for the proposed developments?

A Strategic Review of Affordable Housing Delivery in the West of England

Clients: West of England Partnership of Bristol City Council, Bath and North-East Somerset Council, North Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council

Partner: Centre for Comparative Housing Research, De Montfort University

Completion: December 2008

This project focused on the operation of the HomesWest Partnership consisting of the four local authorities and four strategic housing association partners who were commissioned to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing in the area.

The review tackled the following questions:

Has the existing Partnership delivered, and could it have performed better?
Can the existing Partnership deliver a further increase in affordable housing output or is a new delivery vehicle required?

The project involved:

A review of national and international practice in strategic and affordable housing partnerships;
Comparative analysis of relevant delivery vehicles;
Detailed examination of the practice and performance of the HomesWest Partnership, including document review and extensive consultation.

The Northern Peninsula Strategic Housing Market Assessment

Clients: a partnership of West Somerset, North Devon, Torridge and North Cornwall District Councils, Devon County Council and the Exmoor National Park

Partner: Centre for Comparative Housing Research, De Montfort University

This major project was focused on gaining a thorough understanding of a distinctly rural housing market area, to inform housing, planning, regeneration and economic development strategies. The project focused on:

who lives in the area and how this might change over the next 20 years;
the current and likely future patterns of need, demand and housing supply and the interrelationship between them;
the key drivers of change in the housing market;
identifying sub-housing market areas; and
the options for intervention in the housing market.

The approach involved the extensive use of available data sources; GIS mapping of data; policy analysis, consumer and stakeholder consultation.

Improving the Delivery of Affordable Housing in the West Midlands South Housing Market Area

Clients: Leaders and Chief Executives of the constituent local authorities within the West Midlands South Housing Market Area, and consisting of:

Bromsgrove District Council
Malvern Hills District Council
Redditch Borough Council
Stratford-upon-Avon District Council
Warwick District Council
Worcester City Council
Wychavon District Council
Wyre Forest District Council
Warwickshire County Council
Worcestershire County Council

Partners: Centre for Comparative Housing Research, De Montfort University

Completion: January 2009

We were commissioned to advise on developing a sub-regional approach to securing and accelerating the delivery of affordable housing, including relevant and appropriate delivery vehicles. Outputs have included consultation with leaders and chief executives; liaison with housing and planning officers; presentations and a report paper recommending:

The structure of the Partnership - drawn from best practice;
Relationships with delivery partners/options for appropriate delivery vehicles - drawn from best practice;
The composition and terms of reference of the Partnership Board; and
The role of a policy officer/co-ordinator.

The Development of a Sheltered Housing Viability Toolkit

Client: Servite Houses

Partners: Derek Doran Consultancy (DDC)

In close collaboration with Servite Houses, we developed a two stage Toolkit to be applied annually to all sheltered and frail elderly schemes. Using primarily quantitative data, a series of indicators was developed, prioritised and weighted to support the achievement of a red/amber/green ‘traffic light’ approach to identifying sustainability. A second stage is applied to ‘red flagged’ schemes to identify the nature and extent of problems, and the options available.

The toolkit is being applied successfully for a second time in 2009 and has enabled Servite Houses to diagnose the sustainability of schemes; to improve its information and monitoring systems and to prioritise interventions for investment.

Low Cost Home Ownership and the Intermediate Housing Market in the East Midlands Region Client: The Housing Corporation

Partners: B.Line Housing Consultancy, the Centre for Comparative Housing Research (CCHR), De Montfort University, Derek Doran Consultancy (DDC) and Kim Sangster Associates

Completion: April 2008

The main aims of the project were to identify and understand the market for intermediate and low cost home ownership products in the region and to identify future policy and good practice recommendations.

The project applied a combination of desktop analysis and extensive consultation with stakeholders, providers and consumers to identify:

Intermediate Housing policies and products
the supply of intermediate housing by product cost and location;
the demand for intermediate housing; and
the potential to develop policies and products further.

Recommendations were made to the Housing Corporation; HomeBuy agents; local authorities, developers and housing associations in relation to:

policy and strategy;
products and their marketing;
grant levels; and
the delivery of future schemes.

An Evaluation of Neighbourhood Intervention in the 'Summerfield Triangle', Birmingham 16

Clients: Family Housing Association, Birmingham and Birmingham City Council

Partners: Kim Sangster Associates

Completion: March 2008

Located within the boundaries of Urban Living, the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder for Birmingham-Sandwell, the ‘Summerfield Triangle’ had a poor reputation due to the high incidence of crime and anti-social behaviour. Family Housing Association and Birmingham City Council undertook a range of sustained and co-ordinated environmental and housing market interventions.

The project used both desktop analysis and extensive local and officer consultation to assess the impact of intervention on the long term sustainability of the area; the ‘added value’ contributed by the investment made and the mechanisms of delivery; the impact on residents’ satisfaction and on perceptions locally; the extent to which investment has driven wider change in the area, and, the changed housing market position and reputation of the area.

Page last updated: 13.02.09