Castles & Coasts Housing Association (CCHA) is partnering with ARC4 to carry out an important, up to date Housing Needs Survey (HNS) in the Hexham area. A previous survey was carried out in 2016 and, as a result, this new survey will provide us with a current view of the local housing needs and requirements.
Castles and Coasts Housing Association (CCHA is a registered provider of affordable housing, who own and manage over 7,000 quality homes across the North of England. The majority of CCHA’s homes are available at affordable rent and low cost home ownership.
The purpose of the HNS is to identify a community’s specific housing demographic and to draw a strategic conclusion on the housing need in a specific area. All data gathered will be held securely, whilst being kept strictly confidential, and will not be used or shared for any other purposes.
The HNS is a short survey of questions typically around housing in the local community and is being issued by post with a web address and QR Code, which residents will be able to scan, to take them directly to an online survey. The HNS will be delivered by post to Hexham households with instructions advising residents on how to complete the HNS.
We recognise that not all residents will have access to the internet to complete the HNS. Therefore, the survey provider, ARC4, have issued a telephone number where residents can complete the survey via telephone, if they wish. There will be a three week period where we seek to gather local residents’ views. Once the responses are received, the data will be collated to inform the type and number of future homes needed in Hexham.
If any local residents have any concerns about sharing their data, they should contact CCHA’s Customer Services Team on 0800 085 1171, when they receive the letter, or via the online survey portal, which can be accessed via the QR Code.
A key conclusion of the 2016 HNS was identifying Hexham as an area with an ageing population. This new HNS will help local people, the Local Authority and CCHA to identify specific requirements for affordable housing in the Hexham area, which can be incorporated into any new development proposals. This will include data on the housing requirements of families and younger and older people. Nationally, approximately a fifth of households aged 65 and over live in accommodation unsuitable for their, often changing, needs. This rises to 3 in 10 households, when looking at those aged 85 and over.
CCHA is extremely keen to explore providing attractive, suitable and affordable housing for the Hexham community.