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Chris was a mentor and guiding hand to Housing Vision and especially to its Director, Richard Turkington, from its inception in 2001. Chris began his career as a geographer at Kings College, University of London and following posts at the University of Sussex and with the civil service in Edinburgh, he moved to Birmingham as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS). He was Director of CURS from 1987-93 and continued to work there for the next 45 years, he never really retired. Following its dissolution, he helped to maintain the CURS ethos by actively supporting the establishment of the ‘Housing and Communities Research Group’ and its associated Network.

Chris was appointed the University’s Director of International Affairs from 1984-94 and Director of the Japan Centre from 1993-2002 where he continued to build links with Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and across South East Asia which remain to this day.

He was an active member of the European Network for Housing Research from its inception in the 1980s, attending annual conferences and coordination committee meetings, and winning friends across the continent with his understated diplomacy. Until 2018, he was a co-ordinator of the Working Group on Housing in Developing Countries and supported the development of the Asia-Pacific Network for Housing Research.

He was an outstanding academic with a keen awareness of the importance of engaging with policy and practice. He was actively involved with many locally based housing associations but retained a critical detachment and recognised that ‘big is not always beautiful’. He remained an advocate of urban renewal, recently reminding UK and European audiences of the adverse consequences for public health and social equality of not renewing our older housing stock.

There is an absolute consistency in the tributes paid to him from across the world and these quotes capture some of his finest qualities:

‘Chris had a quiet determination and an absolute commitment to the highest professional standards’.

‘Chris was renowned for his friendliness, his warmth, his calm and his kindness, especially through his support for students and colleagues’.

‘Chris is one of those rare and treasured people whose gentle manner, kindness and advice I found to be always uplifting’.

‘Diplomacy and dinners are something I associate with Chris’.

Chris enjoyed life and especially travel and good food, he had a great sense of fun and loved company, he was a gentleman and a gentle man who has touched so many lives.

This group was formed in August 2015 when we met to discuss our concern about the lack of attention being given by government to the problem of older housing. In July 2016, we published a paper, Good Housing: Better Health which brought together some of the latest evidence about poor housing conditions in the UK. We presented this to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Healthy Homes and Buildings at its meeting in October 2016; and have contributed to subsequent meetings of the Group, including giving oral evidence in November 2017.

Other members of the Partnership consist of:

Peter Archer Trustee, founder member and formerChair, Care & Repair England; President, International Federation of Environmental Health

Dr Stephen Battersby MBE Environmental Health and Housing Consultant; Past President, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

John Bryson Housing, Health and Regeneration Consultant; formerly with Sheffield City Council

Frances Heywood OBE Trustee, Care & Repair England; formerly Senior Research Fellow, School for Policy Studies,University of Bristol

Gill Leng Director, GLHS; formerly National Lead: Homes and Health, Public Health England

Professor Alan Murie CBE Emeritus Professor of Urban and Regional Studies, University of Birmingham

Simon Nicol Director for BRE Housing, Building Research Establishment

Professor David Ormandy Visiting Academic, Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School,University of Warwick

Karen Saunders Health and Wellbeing Programme Lead,Public Health England, West Midlands

Jon Stevens Housing and Communities Research, University of Birmingham

Barry Toon Selly Oak Caretaker Society: CP4SO Birmingham

Christopher Watson Centre for Urban and Regional Studies and Housing and Communities Research, University of Birmingham

These Assessments are taking account of capacity in relation to health care; educational provision; open space, sport and leisure, and community facilities.

Now known as 'Tresham Garden Village', Housing Vision has been commissioned with Jon Watson Consulting to determine the optimum housing mix taking account of demographic patterns and trends; housing requirements by income and affordability; housing demand; the need for affordable housing and financial and development viability. This commission builds on a range of projects to assess the optimum housing mix at schemes including the Newcastle 'Expo' Urban Village; the White City 'Opportunity Area' and numerous estate regeneration initiatives.

In addition to research profiling the housing market, extensive consultation has been undertaken with estate agents, developers, housebuilders and local employers who have recently moved to or expanded in the area. This work will inform the Local Plan and relevant policies.

The Partnership includes representatives from the Building Research Establishment, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Public Health England, St Gobain and the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick.

Our report ‘Good Housing: Better Health’ was launched in July 2016 and makes the case for increasing the focus in current policy on older housing and the quality and use made of the existing housing stock.

The report was presented on 19^th October to the All Party Parliamentary Group on ‘Healthy Homes and Buildings’.

A copy of the report is available at:

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/SPSW/Housing/2016/good-housing-better-health-2016.pdf

Such reviews are made possible by the bespoke modelling we've developed which enables househod projections by type and age of household to be converted into projections of housing need by bedroom size and tenure.

The project is concerned with masterplanning the regeneration of 3 post-war estates to provide new and replacement homes. Housing Vision's role will be to provide bespoke Housing Market Assessments analysing the dynamics of housing supply, need and demand.

West Somerset is in an unusual position as it has a very high older population; a substantial part of the Council area falls in the Exmoor National Park and the building of Hinkley Point C would have a significant impact on the local need for housing. All these factors have been the subject of detailed assessment in reports undertaken by Housing Vision.

West Somerset and the National Park have large proportions of older populations - especially through inward migration - but 2012-based projections have indicated a slowdown in such movement which is reinforced by recent data. It is undertain whether recent patterns represent longer term trends and, for West Somerset, the building of Hinkley Point C will have an impact on the housing market which is yet to be quantified.

The report provides a critical review of how OAHN has been established under the NPPF; includes 5 detailed case studies of how local authorities have arrived at their housing provision targets; summarises a series of interviews with industry experts, and provides guidance for CPRE volunteers involved in Local Plan Examinations. The report is highly critical of official guidance on methodology and raises questions concerning the objectivity of determining OAHN.

These 2 commissions reflect the skills and expertise available at Housing Vision to support the development of effective Neighbourhood Plans:

1. The delivery and analysis of household surveys assessing the need for affordable and market housing in small areas;and
2. Local assessments of the future need for housing over a 20 year period using secondary data.

This substantial Update included modelling of the implications for housing need of a 10 year migration-led demographic scenario and of the implications for population and household growth of constraining housing development to only 250 homes per year. The main findings were presented to the Council's Planning Policy Committee on 15th June and a webcast is available here: http://www.stalbans.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/175805

CPRE has been concerned for some time that the OAN methodology is disadvantaging rural areas. Working with Jon Herbert at Tibbalds Planning and Urbam Design, we will be undertaking a through review of the methodology and underpinning Guidance, making recommendations for improvements and providing support to CPRE branch members involved with Local Plans. 

St Basils - which works with young people to prevent homelessness - has been funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government to develop an integrated housing, education and employment pathway for young people in Birmingham. Housing Vision's project will contribute to developing the pathway by reviewing young people's employment patterns and income levels; assessing the affordability of their housing options, and developing an investment model for housing which would be truly affordable in the city.

Since the start of the year, we've successfully complete two studies at very different scales, firstly, additional analysis of household and housing projections for the Exmoor National Park Area and at the much more local level, an assessment of household projections to inform the development of a Neighbourhood Plan for Sandbach in East Cheshire.

Greg was previously Principal Demographer for Birmingham City Council and has worked in a range of metropolitan, urban and rural areas. Greg has contributed to national working groups on methodological developments for the Office for National Statistsics and the Department of Communities and local Government, and is a member of the Council of the Briish Society for Population Studies.

The Updates have focused on the implications for household and housing growth of the 2012-based Subnational Population Projections. These new Projections differ markedy from those issued previously.

We have also provided, for the first time, a separate projection of the future housing requirements for the Exmoor National Park area.

The SHMA includes specific emphasis on the role of the private rented sector; it considers the impact of population movement in and out of the area and has particular implications for the potential of Telford to meet housing need and demand from the wider West Midlands.

The church has an established congregation but there are concerns it may not be sustainable within the next 10 years. This survey seeks to identify the potential of the church to provide facilities for a community which is due to grow rapidly as a result of local housebuilding. This is the second such survey which Housing Vision has co-ordinated.  

Attended by district and parish councillors, the Summit addressed the problems experienced by local people in accessing affordable housing in the district. Richard's workshop and accompanying report addressed the issue of assessing affordability; Jo Lavis presented a related workshop concerned with assessing housing need. The event was very well attended and received excellent feedback, it provided a model of how to engage with elected members and local people on this sensitive issue. 

The SHMA Report is now available at the following link:

http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/Independent%20Assessment%20of%20Housing%20Needs%20and%20Strategic%20Housing%20Market%20Assessment%202013%20_tcm15-38413.pdf

and a webcast of the initial presentation to Councillors provided by the Director of Housing Vision, Dr Richard Turkington is available at:

http://www.stalbans.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/118436

Central Bedfordshire UA and East Northants DC both commissioned reviews of the affordability of private rented and shared equity housing, and we completed another parish housing needs survey for a private sector client, a growing area of our work.

Housing Vision undertook the original assessment which identified the scale and profile of future housing need in the town.

Almost 300 households were surveyed by hand-delivered questionnaire - and a 40% response rate showed the level of interest in providing new uses for the local community. The first choice was offering a farmer's market; the second a community shop and the third an artists' or designers' exhibition. A public meeting at which the Director of Housing Vision presented the findings on 25th November was packed, Richard added: "The strength of feeling was evident from the survey, people wanted to see the Church as a place of worship but could see its potential as a focal point for the local community".

The seminars will be of interest to anyone working in Policy Planning, Housing Strategy and the Assessment or Commissioning of Care Services for Older People. One seminar will consider how to assess the affordability of housing.

For more information, please contact joswinsondavis@housingvision.co.uk. You can find out more about Housing Vision, our speakers and our Interactive Toolkits at www.housingvision.co.uk/toolkits

The book reviews the situation in 9 countries from Denmark and Estonia to Spain and Turkey with chapters written by local experts. It is hoped the book will be published in late 2014 or early 2015.

This commission follows those completed for North Devon, Torridge and West Somerset District Councils, including the National Park area within North Devon.

The Update has to recognise both the special status of the national parks in relation to new residential development and the affordability pressures within the Exmoor National Park area.

Visit us on YouTube to find out more about our Interactive Toolkits

http://www.youtube.com/user/HousingVision

To book a demonstration of our interactive toolkits or find out more about the event visit: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/research/research-faculties-and-institutes/business-and-law/cchr/cchr-open-day.aspx

Link to the Centre for Comparative Housing Research

We have been successful in being commissioned by Northampton Council to undertake a review of the private rental market in the Borough. This will be used to inform market-related Affordable Rents.

Richard Turkington and Chris Watson will be leading a plenary session on 'Renewing Europe's Housing', the title of their forthcoming book, and will be co-ordinating the Housing Market Dynamics and Housing in Developing Countries Workshops respectively.

The study will use Census data to provide an overall profile; review the supply available to those eligible for LHA and apply Housing Vision's 'Affordability and Housing Options Toolkit' to determine affordability by property type and bedsize.

The project will include a detailed analysis of the factors influencing demographic projections, including household formation rates, migration patterns and economic trends.

FNWM Presentation 1 - Demographic Change - Greg Ball

FNWM Presentation 2 -  Housing Change - Richard Turkington

FNWM Presentation 3 - Meeting Future Housing Requirements - John Acres 

The Plan was successful at a March Examination Hearing and will now proceed to a local referendum. A copy of the Plan can be found at: http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Final%20Thame%20Neighbourhood%20Plan%20-%20March%202013.pdf

Other presentations will consider the demographic implications of the Census and how the region's future housing requirements might be met. This free seminar will take place at Sandwell MBC's Council House at Oldbury on 22nd April from 09.30 - 1 p.m. Places can be booked or further information provided by emailing janet_franks@sandwell.gov.uk.

This project provides the opportunity to undertake an Assessment in a diverse area ranging from New Town housing estates through former industrial communities to rural locations.

They will be giving a plenary session on the future of housing renewal across Europe at the annual conference in Tarragona in June. Further details of the conference can be found at: http://www.enhr2013.com/

These low cost profiles will include maps created using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) accompanied by tables of data with commentaries.  We can produce bespoke profiles rapidly to meet your needs.

For futher information contact Rachel Wright rachelwright@housingivision.co.uk.