Most local authorities have carried out House Condition Surveys in the 1990s, although the majority of these do not involve a simultaneous social survey. Private and public sectors are typically surveyed separately using different methods, the former more often being based on the Department's recommended model approach. Local strategies often do not make clear how these survey results affect their overall assessment of the need for social housing investment. The needs of vulnerable people with care and support needs involve focusing on a range of distinct client groups and working closely with other departments and agencies. The general trend away from very specialised forms of accommodation towards varying packages of support in mainstream accommodation makes the simple linkage between demand and supply difficult.
Most authorities have reasonable stock supply data for the largest client group, older people.
In general, data on flows of relets are less commonly available than data on stocks, and data on need less adequate than data on supply. For certain groups there were concerns about hidden need not revealed by people seeking support, or about multiple needs giving rise to problems of categorisation or double counting. There is a generally positive picture on joint working between housing authorities and other relevant bodies. There is though an apparent lack of integration in many cases between the analysis of supply and demand and between special needs and general needs assessments. Looking at the assessment task as a whole, although there is some demand for a common approach, it is premature and inappropriate to think in terms of a single common model for a housing needs survey or assessment which can or should be applied mechanistically in all areas.