Housing Needs Assessment (HNA)
We are pleased to share with you our recently published Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) 2020. The Wigan Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) 2020 provides the council with up-to-date and robust evidence to support our Housing strategy and the local plan and its future development.
This research provides an up-to-date analysis of the social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics of the area. The HNA identifies the type and size of housing needed by tenure and household type. It also considers the need for affordable housing and the size, type, and tenure of housing need for specific groups within the borough.
HNA Sub-Area Profiles
To support the publication of the HNA, we have developed the HNA Sub-Area Profiles.
This document has a section dedicated to each area of the borough which will help ensure we can secure the right homes in the right places. Each Sub-Area Profile contains:
- A plan of each area to include settlements
- Analysis for appropriate tenure splits for affordable housing and the dwelling size and type for each sub-area to meet housing need
- Where possible we will feed in commentary and intelligence from our own lettings data
- The profile will also include further intelligence on strategic priorities that are specific to an area, for example, focus on town centres, key regeneration areas and anything specific that is referenced in the housing strategy.
We believe this will assist in any future discussions with potential developers who are interested in developing in Wigan Borough.
If you wish to discuss this further please contact our Housing Enabling and Development team.
Housing Strategy
The Deal 2030 is our ambitious plan for Wigan Borough. It is a new way of delivering public services and it sets out how staff and residents will work together to create a truly world class place to live in the decade ahead.
Across everything we do in housing, this is the first time we've considered how we will work to the principles of The Deal and what we will do to achieve its aims.
We are proud to have gone through this process and to be able to say that we have a housing strategy and action plan that starts with The Deal and that is fully oriented towards achieving its aims.
Through this strategy, we're making it possible for more people to live in a home that is affordable and right for them, in the right place, with good connections and support where necessary.
Homes For All Report 2021/22
The Homes For All Report 2021/22 details our progress to achieving one of the key ambitions of The Deal 2030; to ensure “high quality, affordable homes in happy communities”. The report provides a detailed overview of housing delivery in the borough over the last year, demonstrating how we are delivering on our latest Housing Strategy and using the Wigan Housing Needs Assessment to support the delivery of new homes that meet the needs of residents.
The report shows the housing need figure for Wigan, which is set by the government, is 848 additional homes per annum and in 2021/22, a total of 1,445 additional new homes were completed, which is a 0.4% increase on the previous year. The report also documents affordable housing delivery in the borough and in 2021/22, an additional 335 affordable homes were delivered in the borough. These annual delivery figures include specialist homes for both older residents and those with additional housing needs, meeting the aims of the Housing Strategy to provide affordable, accessible homes that meet the needs of all residents.
In 2021/22, there was an even split of new homes delivered on brownfield land (52%) and greenfield land (48%). A positive shift can be seen with a higher proportion of dwellings being built on brownfield land rather than greenfield land, in comparison, in 2020/21, 49% of completions were built on brownfield and 51% were built on greenfield sites.
This shows that more brownfield land is being brought into use and more homes are being delivered on such sites. This increasing use of brownfield land demonstrates our commitment to regenerating the borough and protecting greenspaces.
The report also discusses how this success is set to continue over the next year and beyond, highlighting the future pipeline of housing delivery by the Council Developers and Registered Providers in the borough. There are also further details around the wider local housing market context and challenges, updating on what steps are being taken to reduce the impact of some of these challenges, such as town centre regeneration plans and new infrastructure plans to unlock larger housing sites.