Housing Needs Survey

Published: 04 April 2018

Download the Housing Needs Survey Report

The Housing Needs Survey was, in fact, two surveys together: one to establish the current state of housing in the 4 parishes and one to gather information about how people saw their housing needs both now and in the future.

The first part compared closely with the 2011 National Census, which asked some fairly searching questions about the way of life and work of residents at the time. The comparison with the census fitted well with the information given by those who responded to this part of the survey.

The second part, which was likely to have been completed mainly by those who considered that they could foresee a need for a change in housing, gave us an idea of where and why.

The methodology and the response rate have been assessed by the statisticians and the consensus is that this is a valid and usable survey. As ever where small numbers are involved, too much emphasis on percentages should be avoided.

This survey has been forwarded to, and accepted by, the team carrying out the review of the East Dorset local plan, helping to fill the gap in the earlier plan where rural communities were largely ignored.