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Research

Research underpins Urban Living’s business plans and is shared with partners to assist them with master-planning and to develop programmes within the Pathfinder area.

Research feeds into the development of Urban Living’s policies and strategies. Evaluation shows the effect that our programmes are having on our area. It also identifies housing market changes and the need for further research.

The results of additional research, together with various evaluation processes, helps to identify changing Urban Living priorities. This then feeds into the development of the Urban Living programme.

• Diagram of the research process

  

Research Reports

Urban Living has undertaken and commissioned substantial research. A Research Compendium has been produced as a quick reference bringing together headline messages that have emerged from the Pathfinder’s research work. The Compendium will be updated as additional research reports are produced.

Click on the following titles to download some recent reports:

• Private Rented Sector Landlords Research - June 2010
• Urban Living Household Survey 2008
• Household Survey 2008 - sub-report - Smethwick
• Household Survey 2008 - sub-report - Handsworth & Lozells
• Private Rented Sector Landlord & Letting Agents Survey 2009
• Estate Agents Survey November 2009
• Estate Agents Survey Comparison - November 2009, June 2009, August 2008 & June 2008
• Urban Living Employment Update

Click here for the Research Compendium which summarises all research produced by Urban Living.

If you would like a full copy of any of the reports in the Research Compendium please contact us at info@urbanliving.org.uk

Housing Market Barometer

Urban Living now produces a Housing Market Barometer – an email report which provides a quarterly overview of the local housing market.

The Barometer brings together housing market data such as average house prices, house sales, numbers of empty properties, number of properties sold at auction including repossessions, alongside the findings of locally commissioned research to assist in the monitoring of the housing market especially the impact of the changing economy. This knowledge then helps to focus and shape the intervention work we do.

The latest edition of the Housing Market Barometer (January 2010) highlights an increase in house prices, with the Urban Living average now standing at £106,000 (October - December 09), and shows the number of house sales starting to stabilise but still lower than the same time last year. A fifth of properties going to auction in Birmingham and a third of them in Sandwell were in the Urban Living area in 2009. The Housing Market Barometer also looks at the number of neighbourhoods that are considered sustainable across the Urban Living area, which has increased over the last 6 years, as well as provides a summary of recent supply and demand trends in the local housing market taken from a survey of estate agents undertaken in November 09.

Click here for the latest Housing Market Barometer, January 2010

Click here for the October 2009 edition of the Housing Market Barometer

Click here for the July 2009 edition of the Housing Market Barometer

Research Workshop 2010

Following the success of Urban Living's Research Workshop 2009, we repeated the event this year giving us the opportunity to share the results of research undertaken throughout 2009/10. With a cross section of stakeholders in attendance we were able to collectively examine the implications of the research for the Urban Living area and wider partnership.

Research Workshop 2009

Urban Living hosted a workshop for stakeholders to share the findings of research undertaken across 2008/09. It was attended by a number of partner organisations and Community Board members to examine the implications of the research for us collectively.

Please click here to find out more