University research team wins major housing contract

A Cambridge University research group has been awarded a major contract to analyse trends affecting affordable housing in England.

The Centre for Housing and Planning Research, part of the Department of Land Economy, will provide a statistical support service to the Housing Corporation, which regulates more than 2,000 housing associations.

Its staff will be responsible for analysing statistical information covering everything from the composition of governing bodies through to the numbers of tenants subjected to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.

Their main role will be to provide the Corporation with a series of studies of the national picture, identifying key trends and changes and any regulatory issues that might be emerging.

The award has a maximum value of £1.5m over a five year period, and was made following an open, competitive tendering process.

Professor Christine Whitehead, the Director of the Centre, said "We are delighted to have won this major contract, which will enable us to build on the work which we have been doing for the Housing Corporation over the past ten years.

"The project will be a key resource enabling the Housing Corporation to fulfil its responsibility for regulating some 2,000 housing associations in England, responsible for the homes of nearly two million tenants."

The Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research has worked previously with the Housing Corporation on a number of projects, most notably setting up Dataspring, a research unit within the Centre which utilises Corporation data in a number of freely available on-line housing market databases. Dataspring also produces reports and analyses for the Corporation, housing associations, and local and central government.

The Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research carries out a wide range of research projects in the fields of housing and planning for sponsors including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the National Assembly for Wales, as well as the Housing Corporation.