Oldham and Rochdale New Build Research: Resident Research

The Oldham and Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder consists of three broad areas: Oldham, Rochdale and Middleton. In 2007 Oldham and Rochdale Partners in Action commissioned a survey of New Build accommodation in order to ‘evaluate the effectiveness of new build in attracting and retaining economically active people in the pathfinder areas of Oldham and Rochdale and to create mixed communities in terms of income, ethnicity and tenure type’ (p.1).1 The findings from the research in 2007 opened up questions about the perceptions and motivations of new build purchasers. Many of the findings indicated some negative perceptions amongst respondents within the pathfinder in relation to their area and environment. The research found that Oldham Pathfinder purchasers tended to feel that their neighbourhood was isolated from the wider area, while purchasers within the Middleton part of the pathfinder tended to feel that their development was adequate, but the rest of the area was poor. Many of the push factors to move amongst residents in the pathfinder were seen as area-based such as ‘desire to move to a better area’, ‘isolated design of estate’, ‘poor reputation of the area’, ‘fear of crime’ and ‘poor local environment’. This suggested that purchasers had chosen their current home based on the property rather than the area. This is further supported by the reported pull factors instigating a move to their current home which included: ‘ relatively low property prices’, ‘property type and size’, ‘property type and design’, ‘low maintenance costs of new build’ and ‘desire for a newly built home’.