District Housing Needs Survey 2023

 

In 2023, the Council conducted a Housing Needs Survey to improve our understanding of the housing needs of district residents. Since the survey closed in April 2023 we have been assessing and analysing the responses, and are now in a position to publish the results.

The aim of the Survey was to establish a source of primary housing needs data gathered from across all tenure types, ages and locations in the district, with particular focus on understanding:

• If the housing needs of residents are already being met
• Who is in need and what type of affordable housing is required; and
• How many new affordable homes are required to meet local housing need

All district residents, regardless of background and circumstance, were invited to respond to the Survey to answer a series of questions relating to their current housing situation, whether they intended to move and if so, what type, size, tenure, and location of home they would need. The survey also asked respondents their views and perceptions on affordable housing development, and property and tenure types.

2.1% of all households in the district responded.

Viewing the results

The Survey results can be viewed by clicking the link below. You have the option to view all the results received, or results by Ward level.

Access the Housing Needs Survey 2023 Results

If you’re not sure what Ward you live in, you can find out by using our My Neighbourhood webpage. Simply put in your full post code, select your address from the drop-down and scroll down to ‘Polling Information’. Your Ward and Councillors should be displayed.

Summary of key findings

• Some 29% of households stated that their current home does not meet their needs. The top three reasons for this were the property ‘needs improvements / repairs’, the property is ‘too small’ and there are an 'insufficient number of bedrooms'.

• 43% of households said that they needed to move within the next 5 years demonstrating a need for 2- and 3-bedroom properties. The top 5 reasons for needing to move were: the household ‘needs more space’, ‘the current home is unaffordable’, ‘poor-quality housing’, the household ‘needs less space’ and ‘neighbours / neighbourhood’.   

• 81% of households who need to move want to remain in the district. Analysis of the results shows that the majority of respondets want to remain in the area they currently live in, however there was a preference for Deal and Dover. 

• Some 60% of household who said they needed to move are existing households. The remaining 40% are new forming households. 

• Some 31% of households who responded said they had a disabled household member. This is much higher in comparison to the 2021 Census which recorded the disabled population of the district as 20.9%. 

• 46% of disabled households need to move from their current home. Further analysis of the results shows there is a need for 2- and 3-bedroom properties for disabled households, with a preference for houses and bungalows. 

• 68% of households said they would support affordable housing development in their community if a need was identified. Further analysis shows that households thought ‘houses’ and ‘bungalows’ should have ‘very high to high priority’ on developments, and for types of housing ‘Social Housing’ and ‘Other Affordable Homeownership’ should have the same priority level. 

• An analysis of comments made by households showed that ‘not enough affordable housing’, ‘infrastructure & services’, design & type (of housing)', 'empty / holiday / second homes' and 'unaffordable household costs' were the top 5 mentioned topics. Other highly mentioned topics included ‘high private rents’, ‘affordability concerns’, ‘lack of suitable accommodation’, ‘homes for elderly people' and 'concerns for environment / green spaces'.

What will we do with the results now we have them?

There are several ways we can use the Survey data. These include the following:

• The data can help inform what type and size properties are needed in local communities
• It can be used to support planning applications where affordable housing is present
• It supports the objectives and targets set out in the District Local Plan
• The data can be used to inform the development of housing strategies and policies aimed at enabling the delivery of affordable housing in the district, whether they are completed by the Council or a Registered Provider (Housing Association).

Affordable Housing Delivery Strategy

The Council is committed to providing and enabling a range of affordable housing options, including social housing, Shared Ownership and First Homes. While we work with developers to bring forward new affordable homes that are owned and managed by us, many new affordable homes are supplied by our Registered Provider partners.

The Survey results will be combined with other housing data to inform the development of a new Affordable Housing Delivery Strategy, which aims to provide a strategic framework for enabling and increasing the supply of new affordable housing in the district to meet the needs of district residents. In particular, the Strategy will help to:

• Improve the Council’s knowledge of housing need by establishing a programme of housing need surveys.
• Increase the supply of affordable housing in the district and set a clear understanding of need and demand for all types of housing, now and in the future.
• Work collaboratively with those within the sector to increase the supply of a range of affordable housing options
• Ensure affordable housing creates safer, stronger, attractive, sustainable, and integrated communities.
• Address and reduce current and future homelessness pressures.

Affordable Housing Statistics

You can find more information about the number of affordable housing being developed by the Council by visiting our dedicated statistics webpage.

Other webpages

• What is affordable housing?
• Shared Ownership
• First Homes
• Developments in the district
• Apply for social housing
• Dover District Local Plan

 

Page last updated: 15 January 2024