Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) A Managers Guide (2026)

What should an HNDA include?

6.1 An HNDA should set out:

• how the HNDA has been developed and progressed, including HMP arrangements
• how stakeholders have been engaged in the development and consultation of the HNDA
• the geography that the assessment relates to, including how functional Housing Market Areas, have been defined
• the data inputs to the process
• the methodologies used, including assumptions, judgements and scenarios, data limitations and quality control mechanisms, and
• clearly defined key findings and outputs

6.2 The core outputs of an HNDA, as set out in the HNDA Practitioners Guide, should include the following:

• the key housing market drivers, past, present and future
• existing housing stock profile and pressures
• an estimate of additional future housing units required over twenty years by tenure, and
• the current and future requirement for Specialist Provision in terms of property needs, care and support needs and location/land needs

6.3 The HNDA Tool will assist the estimation of additional future housing units required and will provide four tenure outputs relating to the number of households that - based on local incomes, house prices and rents - might be able to afford;

• owner occupation
• private rented sector
• below market rent
• social rent

6.4 Below market rent refers to the need for some form of subsidized private rent, but it may also be viewed as a potential indicator of demand for alternative shared equity products that are used to support home ownership.