VIVID, a leading provider of affordable homes and services in the south of England, have commissioned fascinating research from the Housing and Communities Research Group (HCRG), part of CHASM, exploring the impact of the quality of home provision and the new construction on personal wellbeing.
The project is led by Dr Halima Sacranie, Dr James Gregory and Professor Andy Lymer and will run for 20 months, concluding in August 2021. The aim of this research is to explore the role that quality of build and environment plays in personal wellbeing and the experience of the home. The team will analyse and compare attitudes and data from and about both existing social tenants and those moving into recently constructed homes. Outputs of the research include an exploration of wider research around the themes of tenant wellbeing, neighbourhood impacts and modern methods of construction and a specific report containing data, insights and recommendations to support VIVID’s strategic planning.
This new research project proceeds CHASM's previous research conducted for VIVID comparing different housing tenures and measures of wellbeing using a bespoke survey and follow up interviews. The results demonstrated that social housing has a positive impact on wellbeing, most notably in terms of anxiety, with social renters in our survey being 7% less likely to be anxious than those in other tenures. Data from 30 follow-up interviews highlighted that a sense of dissatisfaction with the home could be based upon a deeper dissatisfaction with the neighbourhood in which the home is embedded. These findings presented a key challenge for social landlords and housing policy-makers which leads directly to the new research being conducted.
For further details on this research please contact the CHASM Director, Professor Andy Lymer.
View previous VIVID funded research from CHASM: Wellbeing and Tenure
Watch an animated summary of the research outcomes from the Wellbeing and Tenure Project.