Guidance

New Homes Fact Sheet series: Guidance note

Published 2 November 2023

Applies to England

About the New Homes Fact Sheets series

The New Homes Fact Sheets series, developed by Homes England, is a collection of key facts and figures on new homes and regeneration. It provides a fact-based resource for everyone to draw upon to effectively communicate the context and processes around new homes and regeneration.

Each fact sheet focuses on a specific topic area. The development of the fact sheets has involved extensive consultation with local government officers around the country, as well as industry experts and community groups.

The ten fact sheets are:

Fact Sheet 1: The need for homes

Fact Sheet 2: How new homes are planned

Fact Sheet 3: Transport and infrastructure services

Fact Sheet 4: New homes and healthcare facilities

Fact Sheet 5: New homes and school places

Fact Sheet 6: The role of design and placemaking

Fact Sheet 7: Homes and different land types

Fact Sheet 8: Economic, social and environmental benefits

Fact Sheet 9: What is affordable housing?

Fact Sheet 10: New homes in rural areas

How to use the New Homes Fact Sheets

The intended audience of the New Homes Fact Sheets

The fact sheets have been designed to be accessible and engaging for a public audience.

The intention is that the fact sheets can be used to drive forward effective community engagement and as a ‘stepping off point’ for conversations with the public.

Example uses of the fact sheets are:

• as a resource to prepare for events or meetings about planning applications and housing development in your area
• when engaging with community groups and interested parties as part of developing a Local Plan
• as an information source to signpost to people where they can access further information
• in consultation with local government officers around the country, as well as industry experts and community groups

Guidance note for Homes England’s New Homes Fact Sheets series

Advice on extracting data and information from the fact sheets

Data and information may be extracted from the fact sheets. The data points should be presented in full, for instance the whole sentence in the fact sheet should ideally be used, so as to not misinterpret any data or analysis. To extract images or charts, a tool such as ‘Microsoft Snipping Tool’ could be used, but accompanying text that explains the data should also be included, where relevant.

Any data that is shared in other publications, media, documents or on social media should be clearly referenced and dated, using the primary data sources which are referenced and hyperlinked in the fact sheets. This fact sheet itself should not be used as a reference.

The fact sheets are nationally focused

The content of the New Homes Fact Sheets series is nationally focused. As such, care must be taken when generalising information at the local level. While topics may be relevant across the country, data used throughout presents the national perspective. For example, where the fact sheet states that 300,000 new homes are needed per year, this value represents the figure for England in 2023. Similarly, data is used to demonstrate national trends. For instance, across England there is an ageing population with increased life expectancies, however it should be recognised that the trends vary across England. The fact sheets include hyperlinks to local level data, where available.

Timeliness of the data sources

The fact sheets in the New Homes Fact Sheets series are all evidence-based and provide facts and figures on each of the ten topic areas. All fact sheets use publicly available data and evidence, most of which is published by the Government, including the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC); and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Data presented in the New Homes Fact Sheets was gathered in August 2023 and was the most recently available at that time. It is important to note that data sources are updated from time-to-time and to different timeframes. Please refer to individual guidance notes for each fact sheet, to understand more about each data source.

Legal disclaimer

The aim of the New Homes Fact Sheets is to provide a database of information for local government to address common themes related to housing delivery, placemaking and regeneration at the local level.

Homes England is not responsible for and does not endorse the information provided by any third parties referenced in the New Homes Fact Sheets series. We are not promoting one organisation above another and there may be other organisations with similar or different information to that contained in the fact sheets.

Homes England does not guarantee the accuracy or relevance of the information in the fact sheets either generally or to a specific project. The contents of the New Homes Fact Sheets do not constitute legal or technical advice and are provided for informational purposes only.

Users of the fact sheet are responsible for establishing the accuracy and relevance of the information in the fact sheets and should take their own advice. Please see the disclaimer in the GOV.UK terms and conditions which applies to the New Homes Fact Sheets series.